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  Sex-Abuse Scandals Hound Church Leaders

WCPO [Ohio, Kentucky]
Downloaded October 11, 2003

Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in the Tri-state continue to be placed under public scrutiny.

Both the Diocese of Covington and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati have made headlines this year as sex abuse scandals and litigation continue to surface.

A Hamilton County Grand Jury will soon be convening to decide whether church leaders of the Cincinnati archdioce are guilty of criminal conduct, and in Louisville church leaders of the archdiocese there have also found themselves on the "hot seat."

New information shows that in addition to a $25.7-million settlement with abuse victims, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville paid an additional $500,000 to victims in the last fiscal year.

The additional payouts reflect settlements of other lawsuits and out-of-court claims.

They were disclosed in the Louisville archdiocese's annual financial report released this past week.

The report outlines other abuse-related costs paid by the archdiocese in the fiscal year that ran from July 2002 to June 2003.

These include:

$172,000 in payroll, housing and medical costs for priests accused of sexual abuse.

$42,000 in payments to counselors treating abuse victims.

$27,000 in communications and public relations costs.

The report also states that the archdiocese paid $1.4-million in legal fees but that was covered by a $3-million insurance payment.

The officials of the Louisville archdiocese say that insurance would only cover legal fees, not settlements.

 
 

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