Alleged abusive priest files for bankruptcy

ST. LOUIS -- A defrocked priest who agreed to make payments to four victims of sexual abuse has filed for bankruptcy, making it more difficult for those men to collect from him.

Advocates for the victims said on Tuesday that they fear it's possible the men may not be paid, though legal action is being pursued to try and enforce the earlier agreements.

Four men filed three lawsuits against the Archdiocese of St. Louis and the former Rev. Robert Yim in St. Louis Circuit Court, alleging separate instances of sodomy or other sexual abuse when they were children in the 1970s through 1990s, said their attorney Ken Chackes.

The archdiocese agreed to settlements totaling roughly $300,000 in 2004 and early 2005, made those payments, and knows of no other pending cases related to Yim, said Bernard Huger, an attorney representing the archdiocese.