Archdiocese of Dubuque settles 9 sex abuse cases

Des Moines Register/March 1, 2007
By Shirley Ragsdale

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque today will settle nine more cases of child sexual abuse allegedly committed by the clergy.

The formal announcement of the agreement will take place at 9 a.m. at the offices of Waterloo attorneys Thomas Staack and Chad Swanson. The archdiocese will hold its own news conference at 10 a.m. at the archdiocesan pastoral center, 1229 Mount Loretta Ave., said Monsignor James Barta, vicar general.

The settlement is the second round of settlements by the archdiocese. In February 2006, the archdiocese paid $5 million to 20 men and women who said they had been sexually abused by priests.

Today's announcement will settle the claims of nine people for a sum that has not yet been disclosed. None of the nine had filed lawsuits against the archdiocese, and the agreement was reached through private mediation, according to Swanson. All nine had come forward since the 2006 settlement.

The archdiocese has, in the past, paid abuse settlements from the Dubuque Archdiocesan Protection Program, a self-insurance program, said Archbishop Jerome Hanus.

Following the 2006 settlement, the archdiocese posted the names of all priests, living or dead, against whom allegations of abuse had been sustained.

The current allegations are against several priests included on that list, Swanson said.