ROCKFORD, Ill., May 11 (UPI) -- A $2.2 million settlement was reached in a civil lawsuit filed against the Catholic Diocese of Rockford, Ill., by two women abused as teens by a former priest.
Mark Campobello was accused of abusing the two teenagers in 1999 when he was a teacher at Aurora Central Catholic High School and a priest in residence at St. Peter Catholic Church in Geneva, Ill., the Aurora Beacon-News reports.
The high amount of the settlement shows the lawsuit brought by the girls, who were 14 and 16 years old at the time, "cannot be considered just a nuisance," says Barbara Blaine, president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Campobello is serving an eight-year prison term for the abuse.
The Vatican expelled him from the priesthood in 2005.
The lawyer handling the case for the victims told the Rockford Register-Star that while the settlement ends the case for the victims, it does not close the books on the diocese's handling of Campobello.
