KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Clergy abuse survivors call diocese settlement offer a "second rape"

Clergy abuse survivors call diocese settlement offer a "second rape"

by Ashton Goodell
Friday, October 30, 2009

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Victims of clergy sex abuse in the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese call the latest settlement plan a "second rape" and say the dollar amount just isn't enough for what they went through. But the diocese claims it's a fair and fast way to settle the claims.

The diocese says it's fair: everyone gets something, and sooner rather than later.

But victims say they've waited years for the church to do the right thing -- and they say this new plan isn't it.

These women who share the same culture and the same pain lost more than their innocence as children. They lost their faith.

"It's really hard to actually believe there is a God after what happened in church," said sex abuse survivor Rena Abouchuk.

As adults most of them took to drinking to dull the pain. Some considered suicide, and all kept the sex abuse a secret for too long.

"When I had to tell my mom," said survivor Margo Francis Small. "When I had to call her when I was going through counseling, it came to a point there when I didn't want to have a life any more. I didn't want to live any more, because the pain was hitting me inside."

They waited for years to come forward, then years more for a settlement. They finally got one, but they say it's not enough.

The diocese filed a reorganization plan in federal bankruptcy court Monday to settle the claims. It says $5,500 is the minimum a person can receive, but individual survivors will get more depending on the degree of abuse.

"Depending on how badly you were harmed or how much you suffered, you will get X amount more," said Robert Hannon, the diocese's chancellor. "So they will receive considerably more than that $5,500."

The idea is to ensure everyone who filed a claim gets something, and that those who were harmed the most get the most.

The new plan will give more money to victims than the original plan, offered after the diocese filed for bankruptcy almost a year and a half ago, and they'll get it in 30 days.

"This is an attempt to bring forward a plan that fairly compensates people and gets them the money sooner," Hannon said.

The diocese came up with a plan to sell ministry property to its own endowment to get $7.5 million to pay the claims.

It also plans to put other properties up for sale to make the total settlement $11 million. But victims say when it's divided among 300 people, the settlement is like pocket change. 

"To me is about what everyone needs to see about what happened," Abouchuk said. "It needs to be known, it needs to be heard."

A court-appointed arbitrator will consider the claims case by case and determine how much each person will get. After going through that process, the diocese says victims will likely get more than the minimum -- but victims say they'd rather wait for a larger settlement. 

To implement the plan, all of the diocese's creditors have to vote on it first. Then a judge will make a final decision on whether it should go forward by early next year. If that happens the diocese will pay the claims within a month of the decision.

Contact Ashton Goodell at agoodell@ktuu.com