The diocese of Camden, in the south of the American city of New Jerseyannounced on Tuesday that will compensate with 87.5 million dollars to some 300 victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by religious between 1970 and 1980, an agreement considered “partial”, according to one of the defense lawyers.
Dennis J. Sullivan, bishop of the diocese, expressed through a statement his “sincere apologies to all who were victims of sexual abuse in our diocese” and reiterated his commitment so that “this terrible chapter never happens again” .
The agreement that was announced this Wednesday already has several precedents in the United States, where the Catholic Church has been the object of investigations and revelations about sexual abuse for years, and the amount that will be allocated to cover compensation is one of the highest sums for this type of reparations in that country.
Only four agreements exceeded 100 million dollars since the beginning of the 2000s, assured the specialized website bishop-accountability.org, that after the announcement of the 87.5 million dollars earmarked for compensation assured that “it is one of the highest sums that are granted to repair the victims”.
In 2020, the diocese filed for bankruptcy to pay compensation to victims and subsequently made public the names of the 56 priests and one deacon “credibly accused of sexually abusing minors”, most in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the AFP news agency.
The money will be delivered to a fund that will be responsible for delivering the compensation.
Jeff Anderson, one of the victims’ lawyers, said that it is a “partial agreement” that leaves open the possibility for the victims to resort to justice “against the insurance companies” that represent the diocese and that “they They have refused to fulfill their obligations.
Anderson assured that the agreement also provides “measures to protect minors” and the “diocese will have the obligation to publicly disclose the history of the abuses perpetrated”.
