Boston Archdiocese Settles with 7 Alleged Victims of Clergy Abuse

By Simon Rios
WBUR
March 28, 2016

http://www.wbur.org/2016/03/28/boston-archdiocese-clergy-abuse

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian in the WBUR studios earlier this month (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has settled with seven victims of alleged clergy abuse by diocesan priests.

That’s less than half of the total number of abuse settlements made by Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian in recent months.

Garabedian says three additional priests from religious orders were involved in settlements in Massachusetts. Alleged victims received nearly $800,000 between the 10 settlements.

Garabedian says his clients now have a sense of validation.

“There isn’t a client I’ve ever had who wouldn’t trade all the money in the world for not being sexually abused–but they’re trying to move on, they’re trying to cope with it,” he said in an interview on Monday.

Garabedian says on top of the settlements in Massachusetts, six more settlements over clergy abuse have been made out of state.

Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley was unavailable for comment Monday.

Archdiocese spokesman Terrence Donilon said in a statement that the archdiocese “is committed to addressing cases of clergy abuse in a compassionate and just manner.”