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.
Florida Insurance Costs 14.5% Lower Than Without Reforms, Report Finds 
Pipeline Explodes at Delfin LNG Planned Project in Louisiana 
Florida Engineers: Winds Under 110 mph Simply Do Not Damage Concrete Tiles 
Trump Demands $1 Billion From Harvard as Prolonged Standoff Appears to Deepen 
