The archdiocese of Milwaukee reached a $21 million settlement with 330 survivors of sexual abuse, the New York Times reported in August. A $500,000 fund was also established for therapy costs.
An additional 240 individuals whose claims were not substantiated will receive approximately $2,000 each from a fund set aside by the beneficiaries of the settlement. Peter Isely, Midwest director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, pointed out in the Chicago Sun-Times that after legal fees this would amount to an average of $44,000 per person, compared to the average of $300,000 nationwide.
In March, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals had settled a long-standing dispute over a cemetery fund sheltering $55 million from the archdiocese’s bankruptcy proceedings, according to the Wall Street Journal. Subsequently, the archdiocese appealed this decision in a July petition to the US Supreme Court, the Associated Press reported.
The agreement was subject to review by a judge in November, will put an end to four years of bankruptcy proceedings and also protect the archdiocese from future abuse claims.
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