BALTIMORE — Lives spent trying to overcome abuse of their bodies at the hands of people entrusted with their souls, some victims have taken their hope for justice to the grave.
“We’ve lost 15 of our survivors so far waiting on the Archdiocese of Baltimore to do the right thing,” said Baltimore Attorney Jonathan Schochor, who represents survivors in the bankruptcy case and claims the archdiocese has exercised virtually every legal maneuver to limit its own liability in the proceedings, including efforts to safeguard any of its parishes’ assets from the process.
“We’ve been at this two and a half years and we’re still seeking the amount of assets the archdiocese has to contribute to the insurance companies to make this resolve. They have not done that.”
Limits sought by Archdiocese of Baltimore
The Archdiocese of Baltimore offered a settlement totaling about 33 million dollars to cover nearly a thousand victims, but it was rejected.
Now, one of its insurance companies has put a dollar sign on its own coverage to help break the impasse.
“I can announce to you and your listeners and viewers that the Harford Insurance Company has put 100 million dollars on the table in principal, locked in, if we can reach a resolution of this bankruptcy,” said Schochor.
Reached for comment, the archdiocese told us it is “committed to the process and working with the survivors committee and others to achieve an agreed-upon resolution of these reorganization proceedings,” but as a member of that committee, Schochor has his doubts.
“Every single child who was sexually abused in Maryland over the eighty years that we’re talking about is a member of the church, a member of their flock. Can you imagine? And they’re sitting back, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and not stepping up and negotiating as they should.”
