The Archdiocese of Chicago has reached out-of-court settlements totaling $5.4 million with nine people who accused eight Chicago-area priests of sexually abusing them decades ago.
The settlements were reached in the past two weeks, according to the attorneys representing the victims.
“Nobody’s paying that kind of money for something that didn’t happen,” Marc Pearlman, one of the victim’s lawyers, said at a news conference Thursday. “This is validation that it happened.”
The accusations date as far back as the early 1970s and as recently as the late 1990s. The victims’ ages at the time of the abuse ranged from 6 to 14 years old.
The accused priests, most of them now dead, and their Chicago-area parishes are:
- Michael Cepon, St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Chicago.
- Russell Romano, Quigley Preparatory Seminary South High School, Chicago.
- Clement Carroll, Our Lady of Peace School, Chicago.
- William Devereux, St. Martha of Bethany Church, Morton Grove.
- James Sayers, St. Joseph Parish/St. John Neumann Parish, Homewood.
- Norbert Mayday, Our Lady of the Ridge, Chicago Ridge.
- David Braun, St. Francis Xavier Campus of Saints JFX School, Wilmette.
- William O’Connor, St. Paul Catholic Church, Chicago Heights.
Four of the priests — Cepon, Carroll, Sayers and O’Connor — aren’t listed on the archdiocese’s list of clergy members it deems to have been credibly of sexual abuse.
Two of the settlements involved accusations against Mayday.
“We have paid more than $400 million to survivors and continue to ask for survivors to come forward,” archidocesan officials said. “They will be received with dignity and compassion.”
The two law firms representing the eight victims — Jeff Anderson & Associates and Pearlman and Anderson — have represented hundreds o sexual abuse victims and gotten more than $130 million in settlements.
Attorney Melissa Anderson speaks at the podium during a press conference at The Wit Hotel on Thursday, detailing nine new clergy abuse settlements and the launch of the Catholic Clergy Offender Finder tool. Also pictured are (from left) attorneys Jeff Anderson and Marc Pearlman, and survivor Mike Shereck.
Victor Hilitski, Victor Hilitski/For the Sun-Times
“What these settlements represent to our clients is some sort of measure of justice,” said Melissa Anderson, one of the victims’ lawyers.
The lawyers said they have created a searchable database of Catholic clergy members accused of sexual abuse or misconduct involving minors worldwide.