New York church creates program to compensate sex abuse victims

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. | Thu Oct 6, 2016 | 1:24pm EDT

New York church creates program to compensate sex abuse victims

By Daniel Trotta | NEW YORK

The Roman Catholic Church in New York has created an arbitration system for child victims of sexually abusive priests, providing an opportunity for compensation to accusers who are shut out from filing civil lawsuits by statutes of limitations.

The Archdiocese of New York said on Thursday the program would be administered by Kenneth Feinberg, the influential Washington lawyer who has directed funds for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and several mass shootings.

Feinberg and Camille Biros, a longtime associate who has worked with Feinberg on other compensation funds, will have "complete autonomy," the church said.

The archdiocese has agreed to abide by their decisions, no matter how much money Feinberg and Biros might award to victims. Former New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska and child psychiatry expert Jeanette Cueva will comprise an oversight committee.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-church-sexcrimes-idUSKCN12620C

[trotsky]

1. Another informative snippet:

A representative of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) welcomed any program that would aid survivors, but she remained skeptical, given what she considers church protection of abusive priests.

"Once again they're saying yes, our guys committed horrible crimes, but we're going to make up the rules for how these crimes are handled," said Barbara Dorris, outreach director for SNAP. "They are the ones who concealed and enabled the predators. We feel it's designed to mollify politicians."

[LuvNewcastle]

2. Cute picture of Mr. Feinberg.

Are there actuarial tables to help them figure out who gets how much? I'd be curious to know, for example, how many times a kid has to get diddled in order to get a million dollars. I'll take a million dollars and a get out of hell free card, thank you very much. I guess that might make it worth it.