By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) – The Roman Catholic Church has paid out $7.Three million to greater than 70 individuals sexually abused throughout their youth by clergymen in Colorado parishes, settling claims relationship again over 20 years, authorities mentioned on Tuesday.

The settlement, capping a 22-month investigation, was introduced by Colorado Lawyer Basic Phil Weiser in a complement to a report first launched final yr when a victims compensation fund was arrange.

Over the previous yr, investigators uncovered 46 new circumstances and recognized 9 extra clergymen as offenders not named within the preliminary report, together with the late Monsignor Charles Woodrich, who was recognized nationally for his outreach to Denver’s homeless neighborhood.

Along with working with the poor, Woodrich, extensively often known as Father Woody, served as editor of Denver’s archdiocesan newspaper and was ceaselessly a public spokesman for the church earlier than his 1991 dying. He was accused of sexually assaulting three teenage boys.

In its evaluation of all three Colorado dioceses stretching again to the 1950s, the state legal professional common’s inquiry documented a complete of 212 circumstances of abuse involving 52 clergymen; 71 victims obtained money funds. No credible abuse circumstances after 1999 had been recognized.

“My sincerest hope is that this distinctive Colorado program has allowed survivors of sexual abuse by a priest to take another step on the trail to therapeutic and restoration,” Weiser mentioned.

The Roman Catholic Church has been rocked by allegations of sexual abuse since 1992, when the Boston Globe newspaper revealed a decades-long cover-up by church hierarchy of sexual misconduct by its clergy.

The U.S. Catholic Church has paid out an estimated $3.2 billion to settle clergy abuse circumstances, in response to BishopAccountability.org, which tracks the problem.

With out naming Woodrich, the Archdiocese of Denver mentioned in a press release that the names of any priest recognized within the stories might be faraway from “any honorary designation.” An archdiocesan homeless shelter had been named after Woodrich.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Modifying by Steve Gorman and Leslie Adler)