Word: geoghan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...threat of financial ruin is one reason Boston last month pulled back from a proposed settlement that would have given as much as $30 million to 86 victims of convicted child molester Father John Geoghan. Boston and other defendants are now taking a harder line against plaintiffs, interviewing their ex-wives, detailing their history of drug abuse or money troubles. "We act like any other defendant in any other civil litigation," says David Smith, chief financial officer of the Boston archdiocese. "If counsel for the diocese didn't explore every possible avenue, they'd be negligent...
...setback for victims came on Friday when the Boston Archdiocese rejected a $20 million to $30 million settlement it had reached in March with victims of defrocked priest John Geoghan. Courts had not yet approved the deal, which would have awarded 86 victims up to $300,000 each. This marked the first time the archdiocese's finance council had gone against the professed wishes of Bernard Cardinal Law. Even if the plaintiffs go on to sue and win in civil court, Massachusetts law restricts the maximum payout from a nonprofit organization to $20,000 per victim. If the archdiocese...
Tuesday, Cardinal Bernard F. Law ’53 began a civil deposition in Suffolk County courthouse regarding, among other things, a settlement that his Financial Council refused to accept between several church officals, including Law, and 86 victims of priest John J. Geoghan. This disturbing refusal completely disregards the archdiocese’s responsibility to compensate those who were sexually abused by Geoghan—especially after Law reassigned him to parishes several times after he was a known child molester. While it is impossible to replace these victims’ damaged childhoods, a financial settlement both acknowledges...
Beyond a financial settlement, however, the archdiocese must recognize that substantial reforms in procedure and attitude are required in order to prevent future abuse. The prosecution and conviction of Geoghan and other priests is not enough. Along with legal and financial repercussions, the archdiocese will have to assume the political costs that such a disgrace brings as well...
Cardinal Law, in particular, must be held accountable. He should be prosecuted for his role in allowing Geoghan to continue abusing children. His negligence and indifference toward the protection of children is deplorable. It is clear from many documents that Geoghan was unable to stop his sexual abuse, and Law never acted strongly enough to prevent...