Jesuits to Pay 50 Million Dollars to Abuse Victims in Alaska: Reports
Lawyers for the victims disclosed the settlement on Sunday, local media reported, although the Jesuits or Society of Jesus, said there were still "many issues that need to be finalized."
The allegations centered around 12 priests and three missionaries who were accused of abusing Eskimo children in 15 villages from 1961 to 1987.
The allegations have led to angry claims that the remote wilds of Alaska were used as a "dumping ground" for priests affiliated with the order who had been accused of abuse elsewhere, reports said.
Jesuit officials have denied transferring priests accused of child abuse to Alaska, where many villages are cut off from the outside world and have no law enforcement. Victims have said the conditions were a pedophile's playground.
According to the Los Angeles Times, one Jesuit deacon stood accused of abusing nearly every boy in two villages between 1968 and 1975.
The priests' accuser said the abuse led to alcoholism, violence, emotional problems and suicide attempts.
Many victims kept the abuse secret until the Catholic Church sex scandal erupted in 2002.
Jesuit officials criticised victims' lawyers for disclosing the settlement, according to reports.
"We are disappointed by today's actions by the plaintiff's attorneys, which we see as premature and detrimental to the work of healing about which we are all concerned," said John Whitney, of the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province.
"It is my understanding that there are still many issues that need to be finalized before it is appropriate to make an official announcement," he added.
However an an attorney for the victims, Ken Roosa, told the Anchorage Daily News that little remained to be settled and that a verbal agreement had been agreed several weeks ago.
"They're not honest about child rape so how can you expect them to be honest about contractual dealings?" Roosa said.
The payout is the latest in a series made by dioceses to victims of abuse. Earlier this year the Los Angeles diocese agreed a record 660-million-dollar settlement abuse victims while the San Diego Catholic Church later paid 198 million dollars to victims.
Since the beginning of the nationwide scandal five years ago, Catholic authorities in the United
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