Lawyer says archdiocese settles molestation cases

BOSTON -- In one of the biggest settlements on record, the Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to pay up to $30 million to 86 people who accused now-defrocked priest John J. Geoghan of child molestation.

"Accepting this money is not going to end the turmoil in their lives," said plaintiffs' attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who announced the settlement Tuesday. "They are not going to be buying yachts and floating around the Bahamas. There's tremendous pain here."

Under the settlement, which was reached Monday after months of negotiations, the alleged victims and families will receive $15 million to $30 million, Garabedian said.

"This settlement is an important step in reaching closure for these victims who have long endured the damage done to them by John Geoghan," Cardinal Bernard F. Law said. "They are courageous individuals who deserve and need our full support and prayers."

The archdiocese already has paid an estimated $15 million to 40 of Geoghan's alleged victims since the mid-1990s, making this one of the costliest sex scandals the nation's Roman Catholic Church has ever seen.

It was already the biggest scandal to rock the church in terms of the wave of allegations it has set off against priests across the country.

The plaintiffs include 70 alleged victims and 16 parents.