Jesuits paying $19.6M settlement in priest abuse case
An attorney for six men who claim they were abused by a now-defrocked priest says Jesuit officials have agreed to pay $19.6 million to settle his clients’ lawsuit.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported attorney Jeff Anderson announced the settlement Monday. He says the amount reflects the “magnitude of misconduct” by Donald McGuire’s superiors in the Chicago Province for the Society of Jesus.
Church officials have apologized and say they have taken steps to prevent sexual abuse.
McGuire is serving a 25-year prison term after being convicted of taking a minor on religious retreats to have sex with him.
Anderson says the men who filed the lawsuit range in age from their 20s to their 40s. They claim the priest molested them between 1975 and the early 2000s.