The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay an $880 million settlement over child sex abuse claims — now totaling over $1.5 billion in payouts following what officials thought to be the last of ongoing abuse cases in 2014.
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In February 2014, The Los Angeles Archdiocese settled what officials claimed to be the last of its pending priest molestation lawsuits, ending a heartbreaking decade-long run of child sex abuse litigations. At the time, the church reached a $13 million agreement with 17 victims. Police accused Father Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera, a visiting cleric from Mexico, of molesting more than two dozen boys over nine months in 1987. Following the 2014 settlement, the Catholic Church had paid out more than $740 million in the child sex abuse in the settlement.
Since 2014, that total has risen to a record $1.5 billion as The Archdiocese Of Los Angeles has now settled another $880 million over child sex abuse claims. According to The Los Angeles Times, the LA Archdiocese has agreed to pay $880 million to victims of clergy sexual abuse dating back decades in the largest settlement involving the Catholic Church. The settlement is due to be funded by archdiocese investments, accumulated reserves, bank financing, and other assets. The church also said that certain religious orders and others named in the settlement will also pitch in to cover costs.
In the latest wave of lawsuits, 1,353 people are alleging they suffered horrific acts of abuse at the hands of local Catholic priests. Now, after months of negotiations, the archdiocese has reached a settlement with its child sex abuse victims. However, attorneys for the victims report that the settlement still leaves a few lawsuits pending against the archdiocese.
Attorney Morgan Stewart, who led the settlement negotiations, said, “These survivors have suffered for decades in the aftermath of the abuse. Dozens of the survivors have died. They are aging, and many of those with knowledge of the abuse within the church are too. It was time to get this resolved.”
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Attorney Mike Reck of Jeff Anderson & Associates added, “This is a measure of justice. There can never be full justice. These brave survivors brought it to protect kids in the future.”
Meanwhile, Archbishop José H. Gomez, who approved the latest settlement, said, “I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart. My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered. It provides just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses while also allowing the Archdiocese to continue to carry out our ministries.”
He added, “Today, as a result of these reforms, new cases of sexual misconduct by priests and clergy involving minors are rare in the Archdiocese. No one who has been found to have harmed a minor is serving in ministry at this time. And I promise: We will remain vigilant.”
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