San Diego Catholic Diocese Settles Sexual Abuse Suits

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published September 11, 2007 at 10:16 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The Catholic Diocese of San Diego has just settled with plaintiffs who've alleged sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic employees. The total price to the church is $198 million. We'll hear from t

Tom Fudge: Last week, a long difficult chapter in the history of San Diego Catholics and their church came to an end. That's when the San Diego Diocese announced that it would settle 144 cases of alleged sexual abuse for $198 million. The abuse was largely committed by priests. And some of it occurred decades ago. But in 2003, the State of California suspended the statue of limitations, allowing many victims file lawsuits.

Last week's settlement follows an unsuccessful attempt by the church to resolve the lawsuits in bankruptcy court. Several lawsuits were due to go to trial in just a few days.

Guests

Mark Sauer, reporter for the San Diego Union Tribune who has been covering the lawsuits against the San Diego Catholic Diocese.

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Greg Moran, legal affairs reporter for the San Diego Union Tribune .