A nine-year legal fight by a man sexually abused by a priest in the 1970s is over, now that a southern Illinois diocese and its insurer have handed over $6.3 million to resolve a jury award in the man’s favor.
Attorneys for the Diocese of Belleville turned over the checks during a hearing Wednesday in St. Clair County — three years after James Wisniewski won the $5 million jury award.
The additional $1.33 million includes interest accrued since that verdict.
Wisniewski sued in 2002, alleging that a former priest sexually abused him dozens of times for five years at St. Theresa’s Parish in Salem. The lawsuit also claimed the diocese hid the one-time priest’s suspected behavior and quietly shuffled him among parishes.
The diocese’s attorneys declined comment.
Topics Illinois
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Death of Irish Teens in Crash Prompts Social Media Warning 
Jury Finds No Gun Defect, Sides With Sig Sauer in Unintended Discharge Case 
Seven People Charged in $100M Workers’ Compensation Fraud Operation in Florida 
Tornado Alley’s on the Move and Creating New Risk Concerns, Modeler Says 
