By: Associated Press//October 22, 2013//
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A clergy sex abuse victim who settled with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in mediation can’t seek additional compensation through bankruptcy proceedings. That’s according to a ruling issued Tuesday by a federal judge in Wisconsin.
Court documents say the victim received $80,000 from the archdiocese through its mediation program. The victim later made a claim in bankruptcy court, saying the archdiocese hadn’t been honest with him.
But U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa said both the bankruptcy and mediation claims involve abuse by Lawrence Murphy, a former priest accused of molesting hundreds of boys at a school for deaf children. He says since the claims are the same, the man can’t seek more money.
Other victims who settled with the archdiocese in mediation also have filed claims in bankruptcy court.