Waterloo - Attorneys for 18 clergy sexual abuse victims on Thursday announced a $4.7 million settlement with the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
No formal lawsuit was filed in the case, and the victims have not been publicly identified, said Thomas Staack, an attorney with Dutton, Braun, Staack & Hellman in Waterloo.
The victims, in a statement released by their attorneys, said they "hope through this announcement that others who may be struggling with the pain and shame of clergy abuse will find the courage and strength to come forward."
The settlement also requires the archdiocese to post on its Website the names of clergy implicated in sexual abuse cases and to provide counseling for the victims - about one-third of whom were females.
The priests accused in the claims resolved by the settlement include Robert W. Swift, Timothy L. DeVenney, Allen M. Schmitt, Robert J. Reiss, Albert L. Carmen, William A. Goltz, John T. Reed, Louis E. Wendling and Robert J. Saunders.
