The Catholic Diocese of Savannah has settled a sex abuse case involving a priest who spent time in Maryland and Washington, D.C. for $4.5 million.
The settlement is the third largest in the country -- and the largest in Georgia history.
Wayland Brown was arrested in 2002 in Maryland for sexually abusing two minors. Brown may have been abusing minors as far back as the late 1960s.
David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, released a statement praising the victim.
“A victim of a notorious predator priest who spent time in DC and Maryland has settled with the predator's Catholic supervisors for $4.5 million. We applaud this brave survivor for being brave enough to disclose his suffering, wise enough to seek justice in court and strong enough to endure a long process of litigation,” the statement read in part. “A settlement of this size only happens when Catholic officials are sitting on mountains of evidence that they repeatedly and callously put kids in harm's way. Terrified of having this incriminating information surface in court or in public, they pull out their checkbooks and so do their insurers.”
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