CHICAGO -- The Archdiocese of Chicago paid $6.65 million to settle claims
made by 14 people who say they were abused by Catholic priests, the church
and plaintiffs' attorneys said Tuesday.
The settlements were reached between March 2006 and March 2007 and cover
lawsuits filed against 12 current and former priests for abuse that
allegedly occurred from the 1960s to the early 1990s, attorney Jeffrey
Anderson said.
All of the priests named in the settlements have been removed from public
ministry or are deceased, said Susan Burritt, archdiocese's media relations
director. She said the archdiocese traditionally has paid settlements with
insurance money or by selling unused real estate.
Three of the priests - Vincent McCaffrey, Norbert Maday and Robert Mayer -
have been convicted on sex-related charges.
"The bad news is there's still more work to be done," Anderson said. His
legal team represents between 12 and 15 more victims whose cases have not
yet been settled or mediated.
At a news conference Tuesday, Keith Laarveld, 33, said McCaffrey abused him
for about four years, beginning when Laarveld was 8 years old. He said he
kept the abuse secret until about four years ago, when he told his wife and
parents. Lawyers declined to disclose the amount of his settlement.
Laarveld and his mother, Kathy, tearfully said they decided to share their
story in the hopes that other victims will find the courage to speak up.
"I'm very proud of him that he's willing to come forward like this to help
others," Kathy Laarveld said.
Elsewhere, the Archdiocese of St. Louis is suing a law firm that handles
clergy sex abuse cases, claiming it is improperly circulating confidential
documents related to eight current or former priests.
The archdiocese filed suit May 11 against the firm Chackes, Carlson,
Spritzer and Ghio, claiming its lawyers shared personnel and medical
documents with third parties, including a reporter for The St. Louis
Post-Dispatch. The suit seeks to prohibit the law firm from such
disclosures.
A phone call to the Post-Dispatch's editor was not immediately returned.
Lawyer Ken Chackes said documents received from the archdiocese were
obtained by court orders which did not require lawyers to maintain
confidentiality, except for medical records. He said settlements reached in
the cases did not have confidentiality agreements.
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