Jason jsipe on November 28, 2008 A Vida man’s name surfaces when a judge releases records tied to lawsuits filed against the Portland archdiocese
A former local priest is among Roman Catholic clergymen named in documents released Wednesday by order of U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan in connection with lawsuits filed by victims of sexual abuse.
The documents are the latest public disclosure from the April 2007 settlement of an Archdiocese of Portland bankruptcy case arising from 175 sexual abuse claims by former parishioners.
The archdiocese paid $77 million to settle the lawsuits in exchange for continuing its operations without selling any parish or school properties.
The latest documents became public after the Eugene judge arbitrated a dispute between abuse survivors and the archdiocese over the records. Hogan’s decision was lauded Wednesday in a statement by Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who represented more than 40 victims of what he called “pedophile priests.”
Clark said Hogan’s decision forced the archdiocese to release “virtually all of the disputed categories of documents, including those regarding priests who had ‘only’ one claim of abuse filed.”
