| Former Waltham Priest Included in New Abuse Settlement
By Alex Newman
The Patch
March 28, 2016
http://patch.com/massachusetts/waltham/waltham-priest-included-new-abuse-settlement-0
A former Waltham priest has been named in a settlement between the Archdiocese of Boston and seven people who said they were sexually abused by priests.
Father Martin Walsh was posted at Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted when he abused a 13-year-old boy in 1975, Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for the alleged victims, said.
According to Garabedian the abuse occurred in a cabin in Sunapee, NH. The accuser is now in his 50s.
Walsh, who died in 2007, is one of three priests included in the settlement listed as "unsubstantiated cases" on an archdiocesan website that tracks accusations against clergy, according to the Boston Globe.
But Garabedian says the church's settlement, which he describes as "well into the five figures," substantiates his client's claims.
"My client's case was settled monetarily," Garabedian said. "As a result of the settlement one can state that my client was found to be credible."
In addition to the seven in Boston, two other cases involving priests from other religious orders who worked in Boston were also settled.
Garabedian reached seven additional settlements with religious orders across the country, including one that involved a brother who was assigned to the Northshore Mall in Peabody after being accused of abuse in Los Angeles.
He says he has more than a hundred cases still pending.
"Unfortunately the amount of clergy sexual abuse is endless," Garabedian said. "One has to wonder where the supervisors of the pedophile priests were and why they weren't protecting innocent children."
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