Lawyers involved with the Delaware Catholic Diocese of Wilmington's $77 million settlement with nearly 150 alleged victims of sexual abuse said the church's agreement to release unredacted documents is a historic step toward making sure it doesn't happen again. And lawyers for the alleged victims said they will post the documents on the Internet.
"When people see the documents, they will be able to judge for themselves" how the church dealt with pedophile priests, attorney John Manly said.
The diocese agreed Wednesday to settle the lawsuits, which claimed child sexual abuse by dozens of diocesan and religious order priests dating to the early 1960s. Attorney Thomas Neuberger, who represented 99 of the 146 alleged victims, said they would each receive $530,000 on average.
Diocese attorney Anthony Flynn said church officials were pleased with the settlement.
"It's been a long struggle, but we've finally reached agreement," he said.
Delaware law created a two-year "lookback" window that allowed claims of abuse to be brought regardless of whether the statute of limitations had expired.
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