Abuse payment plan offered

The 243 people who settled sexual abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville in June would receive payments of $15,333 to $175,000, according to a plan for dividing the $25.7million settlement sent to a judge yesterday.

Cincinnati lawyer Matt Garretson, who was appointed Aug. 1 to oversee the settlement division, proposes that each plaintiff be placed into one of three categories, based on severity of abuse, ranging from non-genital contact, to genital contact, to rape or sodomy.

Each category has its own payment range, with specific payments to be awarded based on several other factors: whether the plaintiff was under 14 when abused; how many times the plaintiff was abused; specific actions by the abuser; and other aggravating circumstances, such as whether the perpetrator plied his victims with drugs, alcohol or pornography.

Garretson filed the recommendations in an eight-page report yesterday in Jefferson Circuit Court. It requires the approval of Circuit Judge James M. Shake, who on Aug. 1 approved the settlement between the archdiocese and 243 plaintiffs who said they were abused by dozens of priests and others associated with the church over the past half-century.