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	Church to Settle with 88 in Abuse Arbitration Los Angeles Times March 10, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-abuse10 mar10,1,7454115.story?coll=la-headlines-nation BOSTON — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston said Thursday that 88 people would settle claims they were sexually abused by priests, agreeing to a smaller payout than a first group of abuse victims received. Kelly Lynch, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said the 88 agreed to participate in a first round of arbitration scheduled to take place in March and April. The archdiocese has offered average payments of $75,000 per person. This settlement would come three years after the Boston Archdiocese, which was at the heart of a national pedophile priest scandal, reached a global settlement with about 540 victims for $85 million, paying each person roughly $153,000. Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for the some of the plaintiffs, said under the agreement the church would pay out roughly $6.6 million. Lynch declined to give a number for the proposed settlement. Both said other suits were outstanding. Garabedian said his clients were told they would receive anywhere between $5,000 and $200,000 to settle their claims. Arbitrators were to determine how much each victim would receive based on how serious the claim was, Lynch said. "This is an important first step in resolving pending claims of sexual abuse of children by priests of the Archdiocese of Boston," Lynch said. Lawyers for the victims said their clients had been angry since this settlement was proposed late last year. "My clients signed the deals because they want to reach closure," Garabedian said. "But they feel insulted by it." Since the scandal, financial problems have prompted the Archdiocese of Boston to close more than 60 churches and schools as donations to churches across the United States and in Boston declined.
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