3-1-18 As seen in Buffalo Business First - (Featuring Hon. Barbara Howe, Esq. of Woods Oviatt). Diocese of Buffalo establishes fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse.
Diocese of Buffalo establishes fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse.
- By Dan Miner – Reporter, Buffalo Business First
The Diocese of Buffalo has established a fund to compensate victims of child sexual abuse by members of the local Catholic clergy, the diocese announced Thursday.
The Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Fund will be administered by former state Supreme Court judges Jerome Gorski, currently an arbitrator and mediator with National Arbitration and Mediation, and Barbara Howe, who is senior counsel at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP.
Gorski and Howe will determine the appropriate compensation offered to each person whose claim is accepted. The claimant has 60 days to accept or reject the settlement. People who have previously made claims will be invited to participate in the voluntary program.
"I know this is the right thing to do," said Bishop Richard Malone in a written statement. "The victims and our church in Western New York cannot move forward until the pain of the past is properly addressed."
The diocese made the move after a retired priest, Rev. Norbert Orsolits, admitted to the abuse of numerous teenage boys in the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Buffalo News.
The sexual abuse claims will be paid from self-insurance liability and investment fund reserves. The diocese said it will not come from the recently completed Upon This Rock or ongoing Catholic Charities fundraising campaigns.
The diocese pointed out that it has been conducting mandatory training and a system of background checks for anyone who regularly interacts with youth since 2003. It said that diocesan clergy, employees and volunteers are trained to identify sexual abuse and to report that abuse to the District Attorney's office and the diocese's own victim assistance coordinator, Jacqueline Joy. Joy facilitates diocesan assistance for victims and their families.
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