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Catholic Settlements

TOLEDO -- 12 of the sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Toledo Catholic Diocese have been settled. Attorneys David Zaul and Michelle Kranz say the total amount is for hundreds of thousand of dollars. They also say there's more to the settlements including requests by the victims for counseling, that priests get counseling, and for more prevention by the Diocese to stop this from happening to other people.

All of the settlements were done individually so each of the victims get different amounts of money based on several factors including,  among others, how often the abuse happened, how old the victims were at the time, and if the diocese knew about the abuse. Both lawyers say they're pleased with the hard work the Toledo Catholic Diocese put-in to come to these terms.

News 11 talked to both the lawyers and the diocese about these settlements. "The amounts were sufficient so the clients felt that the diocese had recognized the wrong so the clients can forgive and move on," said victims' attorney David Zau.

"When we talk about abuse we're not happy but this helps victims and the church to come to some kind of closure and moving on and on we move forward," said Toledo Catholic Diocese Communications Director, Sally Oberski.

The abuse in these settlements dates back to the 1950's to as late as 1986. The cases involved six priests, one who has since passed away. All of the payments except one will be made in a lump sum. The diocese still has close to 10 sexual abuse lawsuits pending against it.

Posted 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 31st
vfiorello@wtol.com