Sex-abuse suits may be settled by July
The bulk of the sexual-abuse lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville could be resolved by July, according to the lawyer representing most of the plaintiffs in the cases.
The lawyer, William McMurry, said he and church officials and attorneys met yesterday and agreed to attempt to mediate settlements for more than 200 of the sexual-abuse cases currently pending.
McMurry said he represents 214 plaintiffs suing the archdiocese. In all, 247 lawsuits have been filed against the church in Louisville since April 2002. Six of them have been settled, including one announced yesterday.
McMurry said he and the archdiocesan representatives are working with a former federal district judge from New Jersey, Nicholas Politan, who specializes in mediating cases with large numbers of plaintiffs.
"The process has been agreed on in general terms verbally," McMurry said. "We are in the process of reducing that to writing."
The public could be advised of that "as early as next week," McMurry said, adding that "we will begin discussing the financial considerations of settlement the first week of June, and I firmly believe that these cases can be resolved by late June or early July."
Brian Reynolds, chancellor and chief administrative officer of the archdiocese, said any mediation plan would have to be submitted to a judge and would eventually become public.
Reynolds also indicated the archdiocese is speaking with the attorneys for other plaintiffs in hopes of attempting mediation in other cases.
McMurry said he entered yesterday's meeting with no expectations.
"I am extremely encouraged that we have agreed to a process that will fairly and justly mediate and bring these cases to a prompt resolution," he said
The same day he was discussing the framework for mediation, McMurry filed another lawsuit against the archdiocese, accusing the Rev. Donald Ryan of sexually abusing a boy at St. Columba Church in Louisville in the 1960s. Raymond L. Wilberding, 56, alleged he was abused by Ryan while serving as an altar boy at the church.
Cecelia Price, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, declined to comment on the new allegation, citing policy.
Ryan took a paid leave of absence as pastor of St. Denis Church in southwestern Jefferson County after the first lawsuit alleging he was an abuser was filed Monday in Jefferson Circuit Court.
Wilberding's and prior cases allege that the church knew or should have known of the abuse and covered it up. Attorneys for the archdiocese have denied any cover-up in responses to lawsuits filed previously.
Meanwhile, settlement of the case of John J. Davis Jr., who accused former teacher Joseph B. Greene III of sexually abusing him while a student at Ascension, was announced by Reynolds yesterday.
Details of the settlement are confidential, Reynolds said. Davis confirmed the settlement, but he declined to comment further.
Earlier, the archdiocese settled a lawsuit by Robert Davis, John Davis' brother. Both men are prosecution witnesses in a criminal child-sexual-abuse case against Greene pending in Jefferson Circuit Court.
