At least 17 cases of child abuse committed by priests will be closed after the Archdiocese of Los Angeles accepted to pay $13 million dollars to the victims, in an agreement signed weeks before a trial on the sexual abuses which took place in various parishes in Los Angeles started in March.
Among the lawsuits the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will have to settle economically are 11 cases related to Mexican priest Nicolás Aguilar Rivera, who is still at large 25 years after escaping from the authorities in the late 80's, reported Los Angeles Times on its website.
The extrajudicial arrangement reached last Friday by the plaintiff's lawyers and those of the Archdiocese managed an agreement with 11 men who were aged between 7 and 12 when they were abused by the Mexican priest in 1987, a year in which he visited various parishes with the authorization of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the quoted source.
Authorities estimate that during the nine months in which Aguilar Rivera stayed in Los Angeles, he abused two dozen children, before the police emitted an arrest order against him in January 1988.
According to information published by Fox News, the out of court arrangement includes another 6 trials that involve another four priests accused of abusing minors.
The sum of $13 million dollars will be divided into approximately $1 million of each of the victims, while other amounts will be given to six other people who said they had also been abused by four priests in Los Angeles parishes.
According to Los Angeles Times, with the last agreement settled last Friday, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has paid over $720 million to hundreds of victims of abuses from priests in recent years.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the biggest in the US with over 280 parishes which service close to 5 million faithful.
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