Diocese of Rockville Centre makes 'best and final offer' to Long Island sexual abuse victims

The Catholic Church on Long Island has offered what it called its “best and final offer,” after three years of bankruptcy proceedings, to survivors of childhood clergy sexual abuse. 

Many survivors would receive at least $100,000 in cash immediately as the Diocese of Rockville Centre distributes a total of $200 million among some 600 people, church officials said.

The plan “is the best, most efficient and most effective means to immediately begin compensating all eligible survivors equitably while allowing the Diocese to emerge from bankruptcy and continue its charitable mission,” Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the diocese, said in a statement.

“The Diocese agrees with Bankruptcy Court Judge Martin Glenn, who is overseeing the case, that survivors have waited too long for compensation and that any alternative to a global settlement plan creates chaos that puts both survivor compensation and the futures of parishes at risk,” he said.

But some attorneys for survivors said the offer was the same as others the diocese had previously made, only to be turned down.

“Thinking that a survivor that was repeatedly raped as a child will be tempted by an immediate payment of $100,000 is offensive and shows how the diocese values what these child sex abuse victims went through,” said Jordan Merson, a Manhattan-based attorney who represents some of the survivors.

“They have spent almost $100 million on legal fees. If the diocese had only worked with survivors instead of fighting against them, this case could have likely been settled long ago,” he said.

James Stang, the main lawyer representing the survivors committee in the proceedings, indicated they will reject the diocese's latest offer, which he said contains nothing new.

"The plan they are offering is no different than the plan that we have considered before, which we rejected," said Stang, who is based in Los Angeles. "They're just making another run to see if they can get support."

After years of legal wrangling and negotiations, Glenn had set an Oct. 31 deadline for the sides to reach an agreement.

Around that time, the diocese announced it had failed to reach a settlement with the survivors. It remained unclear Tuesday what would happen next, though one possibility is sending the cases back to state court for civil trials.

“The Diocese has already made it clear that it is at the end of its resources” and cannot offer the survivors more money, Dolan said in the statement.

“Survivors deserve compensation now, and the Diocese’s charitable mission is more important than ever in these uncertain times. Both face a vulnerable and uncertain future if the plan is rejected,” he said.

Dolan added that proposed settlements by the survivors “are rife with uncertainty,” and would “needlessly run up litigation expenses and continue to erode assets of the” church.

Also, if cases are moved back to state court, he said, survivors would face “a first-come, first-served litigation dynamic” that could lead to more delays and lower settlements for some or no financial settlement at all.

Attorneys for the survivors contend that the diocese, one of the largest in the nation, has extensive resources and land holdings that would allow far greater compensation to the survivors.

The abuse cases were originally filed in state civil court under the New York State Child Victims Act, which was enacted in 2019. The law allowed a two-year “look back” window in which child victims of sexual abuse could file lawsuits no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurred.

By October 2020, the diocese declared bankruptcy, saying payouts from the CVA could leave it in financial ruin. The diocese previously paid out a total of about $62 million to 350 survivors under an “Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program” that began in 2017.

Glenn has indicated he might take the step of becoming the first judge in the nation to kick a Catholic diocese out of bankruptcy if no settlement is reached.