Seattle Archdiocese pays nearly $7 million to 6 men who claim abuse
Nov 13, 2018, 7:11 AM
The Archdiocese of Seattle announced Friday final settlements totaling almost $2.3 million for five separate claims related to allegations of sexual abuse from decades ago. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
KIRO 7 has learned that the Archdiocese of Seattle has paid nearly $7 million to settle six more claims of priests sexually abusing children. All the men maintain the church knew, or should have known, the six priests posed a danger to children and failed to protect them.
Jim Haurer was a freshman at JFK High School in Burien when he says he was groomed and then abused by Father Thomas Marmo.
“I was raped twice. It affected my entire existence, from my spirituality to my physicality to my emotional, to my relationships with people to my intellectual pursuits,” Haurer told KIRO 7.
Another man, who asked not to be identified, said he was abused at the age of eight by Father Thomas Pitsch at St. Patrick Parish in Tacoma.
The man maintains Father Pitsch told him, “this is what God wants,” then raped him repeatedly over three years. He told KIRO 7, “The fact that the church has not dealt with this the way they should deal with it speaks volumes.”
The Archdiocese of Seattle has identified 78 church workers who are credibly accused of child sexual abuse.
By Dave Wagner, KIRO 7
