LOS ANGELES (CNN) — Four California men allegedly molested as boys by a priest have settled their lawsuit against the Los Angeles Archdiocese and Cardinal Roger Mahony for almost $10 million, their attorneys said Tuesday.
The priest, no longer in the clergy, abused the boys on several occasions dating back to the 1970s, including during overnight trips to San Diego and Riverside counties, the attorneys said.
The priest pleaded guilty to molesting boys in 2007 and was released in 2011 with credit for time served, the attorneys said.
The civil lawsuit was filed separately by two brothers and two other people, and the plaintiffs reached a confidential settlement this month with the church and Mahony, said attorney Vince Finaldi of Irvine, California.
None of the plaintiffs were victims in the criminal case against the priest, but a third brother of the two sibling plaintiffs was a victim, Finaldi said.
J. Michael Hennigan, an attorney for the archdiocese, confirmed the settlement of $9.9 million with the four men who alleged the former priest, Michael Baker, was their abuser.
“We accepted responsibility for all of Michael Baker’s misconduct and the issue with respect to these cases was trying to find an acceptable number to resolve the cases,” Hennigan told CNN.
Baker coudn’t be immediately for comment Tuesday.
Mahony is in Rome as part of the cardinals’ conclave voting for a new pope. None of the 115 cardinals are reachable during that voting process.
Early Tuesday morning, Mahony sent out his last pre-conclave message on his Twitter account before he and the other cardinals took an oath of secrecy in the Sistine Chapel. The Cardinals reside at Casa Santa Martha in the Vatican during the conclave.
“Last tweet before moving to Casa Santa Martha, and Mass to Elect a Pope. First Conclave meeting late Tuesday afternoon. Prayers needed,” Mahony wrote.
Tod Tamberg, an archdiocese represenative with Mahony in Rome, referred all inquiries to Hennigan.
The Catholic church is LA’s largest organized crime family, and largest child terrorist organization, sending out child rapists, protecting them at al costs, and terrorizing children, and getting a billion followers to think that’s cool. All in God’s name.
And that’s exactly What Satan Would Do.