LA Archdiocese to pay $10m to settle four abuse cases
The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay nearly $10m to settle four clergy sex abuse cases.
Church lawyer Michael Hennigan confirmed the $9.9m settlement for the cases, which alleged abuse by former priest Michael Baker.
Two cases were to go to trial soon and a judge had said lawyers for the alleged victims could also pursue punitive damages.
Recently released files show Baker met Cardinal Roger Mahony in 1986 and confessed to molesting two brothers for nearly seven years.
Cardinal Mahony sent Baker for psychological treatment but eventually put him back in ministry, where he molested again.
Baker was convicted of molesting one boy in 2007. Two of the latest plaintiffs are that boy’s brothers.
Cardinal Mahony is in Rome helping to select the next Pope.
