Spokane Catholic Diocese gets more abuse reports

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has received 21 new allegations of clergy sex abuse.

Church attorney Greg Arpin said they are all accusations by adults who contend they were sexually abused by clergy years ago.

Seven of the claims have been allowed by a court-appointed reviewer who weighs the merits of the allegations and then decides how much money a victim receives. Kate Pflaumer, a former U.S. attorney for Western Washington, denied five of the claims, and the remaining nine are pending.

The diocese wants to challenge some of Pflaumer's decisions, but wants to do so in secrecy and has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams to seal court records from the public.

An advocate for victims of priest sex abuse said the new allegations show that the issue is far from resolved, despite a settlement that allowed the Spokane Diocese to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

"It's just immoral and impractical to try to force deeply wounded victims of horrific child sex crimes to meet some arbitrary deadline that's set up to benefit the wrongdoers," said Barbara Dorris with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,

"Traumatized victims step forward when they can, not when church bureaucrats and lawyers try to tell them they must," she said.

Dorris also said church leaders are hiring lawyers to try to keep crime details secret.

"Shame on them," she said.

Arpin said the diocese is attempting to comply with the settlement's broad confidentiality requirements that keep secret the names of victims, payment details and the names of some accused clergy.

It is unclear if the diocese will have to collect more money from parishioners to pay the new claims. The settlement established a $1 million fund to handle what the diocese assumed would be a few future claims. If the $1 million set aside to pay future claims is drained, the diocese must replenish it.

The diocese declared into bankruptcy in late 2004 to deal with scores of claims of sex abuse. The diocese and its 82 parishes agreed in 2007 to pay $48 million to 184 victims of sexual abuse. The deal forced the diocese to liquidate nearly all of its assets.