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The average payment to each of the survivors comes to roughly $290,000, plus whatever is later obtained from the southern New Jersey's diocese’s insurance companies, under the proposed bankruptcy settlement.
That’s a sharp difference from a proposed settlement by the Boy Scouts of America, whose claimants stand to receive an average of about $31,000.
“I want to express my sincere apology to all those who have been affected by sexual abuse in our diocese,” Bishop Dennis Sullivan wrote in announcing the mediated settlement with the Official Committee of Tort Claimant Creditors on Tuesday, April 19.
“My prayers go out to all survivors of abuse,” the bishop added. “While we expect this to be the final financial step to settle survivor claims, we know it is only the next step along a perpetual road of ensuring that this kind of abuse, and our response to it…never occurs again by anyone in our ministries, parishes, and schools.”
The agreement secured by the survivors’ committee ends a lengthy battle for restitution to child sex abuse survivors and accountability by the diocese and its parishes.
It remains subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy court judge in Camden.
Making it possible is a landmark New Jersey law that suspended the statute of limitations for two years for civil claims arising from child sexual abuse. This gave survivors “a unique, unprecedented opportunity to seek restitution and accountability for the abuse they suffered,” the diocese wrote in a release.
Although the two-year window closed last December, the new state law allows survivors to file civil claims within seven years of when they began to understand how the sexual abuse affected them.
Several survivors were represented by attorneys from the New Brunswick law firm Rebenack, Aronow & Mascolo and Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC of Seattle, WA.
Jay Mascolo of RAM Law called the settlement “long overdue.”
“This moment is a direct result of thousands of survivors courageously coming forward and the nation-leading reforms that New Jersey passed that made it possible for survivors to finally seek justice,” Mascolo said. “Camden survivors have finally obtained some semblance of justice after suffering for decades.
“We hope this victory encourages others to seek accountability for the abuse they suffered,” Mascolo noted. “It’s not too late for many survivors in New Jersey to come forward.”
“While no amount of money can make up for the devastating abuse that survivors have suffered, we hope today’s historic settlement sends a strong message that even the most powerful institutions can and will be held accountable,” Jason P. Amala of PCVA Law added.
Amala, whose law firm played a lead role in opposing the Boy Scouts’ earlier proposed settlements, said he believes the settlement could become a model for a half-dozen other pending Catholic bankruptcies arising from claims of child sexual abuse.
“Rather than continuing to fight abuse survivors, this diocese is acknowledging it made mistakes by paying a significant amount of cash and making its insurance companies live up to their obligations,” Amala said. “We hope this settlement puts an end to insurance companies thinking they can collect hefty premiums for decades but then hold defendants and survivors hostage until they agree to cheap settlements.”
The agreement establishes a trust to compensate survivors of sexual abuse within the Diocese. It will be funded with $87.5 million from the Diocese and related Catholic entities over a four-year period.
The settlement also includes maintaining or enhancing the protocols for the protection of children, which were first implemented by the diocese in 2002.
Both the diocese and the survivors’ committee said they’ll seek the approval of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jerrold N. Poslusny, Jr. early June.
“I would like to thank each of the abuse survivors and the members of the survivors’ committee for their commitment to this process,” Bishop Sullivan wrote. “The Chapter 11 journey is another of many roads the diocese and parishes have taken during the past 30+ years as the Diocese of Camden has confronted clergy sex abuse and its impact on survivors.
“The diocese is committed to maintaining or enhancing all of the programs currently in place to ensure the safety of children and others in our community from abuse,” the bishop added. “In addition, the diocese will maintain its current program of providing therapy to all survivors of abuse.
“It is my fervent hope that this settlement will be remembered as a positive step in our attempts to rectify past sins. Let us all continue to pray for the survivors, while again recommitting ourselves to the protection of all youth and vulnerable people in our care, today and always.”
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