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The Roman Catholic Church in San Diego will pay nearly 200 million dollars in
damages to more than 100 victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy, officials
and lawyers said Friday.
Lawyers for dioceses of San Diego and San Bernardino and 144 victims of priest
abuse thrashed out the 198.1-million-dollar settlement after protracted negotiations
at the city's Federal Courthouse.
Each victim of abuse will receive an average of 1.3 million dollars, lawyers
said after the announcement, making it one of the largest settlements by dioceses
of the Roman Catholic Church since the sex-abuse scandal erupted in 2002.
The settlement comes after years of negotiations between victims and the Californian
city's diocese. In February the church body filed for bankruptcy protection,
arguing it was the best way to compensate victims in the case.
The diocese had previously offered to settle the case for 95 million dollars,
but eventually agreed to more than twice the amount.
The settlement follows a record payout by the Los Angeles diocese of 660 million
dollars to more than 500 victims of abuse by clergy in July, the biggest in
US history.
Since the beginning of the abuse scandal five years ago, Catholic authorities
have paid out close to 2.8 billion dollars in damages to victims.
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