$8 million judgment against Duluth diocese in sex-abuse case

November 05, 2015

A Minnesota jury has ordered the Diocese of Duluth to pay over $8 million in damages to a sex-abuse victim.

The jury award—one of the largest ever recorded for a sex-abuse case—came in the first trial under a new Minnesota law that allows older victims to pursue claims involving abuse that occurred decades ago. The case involved a man who said that he was molested in 1978, by a priest who is now deceased.

The jury found the Duluth diocese responsible for 60% of the priest’s abuse, while assigning the other 40% responsibility to the religious order of which he was a member, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The religious order had been dismissed from the lawsuit, however, by a judge’s order.

 

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Further information:

• Jury orders $8M in damages, says Diocese of Duluth, Catholic order are responsible for child sex abuse (Star-Tribune)