US Catholic Church to pay $10m in abuse case settlement

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay almost USD 10 million to four men who were allegedly molested by a former priest.

The victims’ lawyers announced on Tuesday that Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony has recently approved the USD-9.99-million settlement for alleged sexual abuse by former priest Reverend Michael Baker in the late 1990s.

Mahony is currently taking part in the Vatican conclave to select a new pope even though he recently lost all his public and administrative duties except for the cardinal title, which is keeping his right to participate.

His duties were stripped after the public release of over 12,000 pages of confidential files, which revealed how Mahony and other church officials helped known or suspected pedophiles within the ministry to avoid probes from law enforcement.

In 1986, Baker confessed his abuse of two boys to Mahony, who sent the priest to a church-run treatment center in another state to skip justice.

The files showed evidence of Mahony working with the abusers to stop private therapists from reporting the misconduct to the police.

After six months in treatment, Baker was taken back to the Los Angeles area and was assigned to a residence connected to a Catholic school.

In 2007, Baker was sentenced to jail on charges of the sexual abuse of a minor. He served time in prison until his release in October 2011.

During the same year, the Los Angeles Archdiocese reached a record-breaking USD-660-million settlement deal with hundreds of abuse victims.

The Roman Catholic Church has been hit by numerous scandals in the US and Europe in the past few years, involving allegations of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests to protect pedophiles and its own reputation.

Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, announced his resignation as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh on February 18. He later admitted to sexual misconduct against, among others, three priests and one former priest during his career within the church.