Seattle Archdiocese sex-abuse case settled

SEATTLE, May 20 (UPI) -- A 44-year-old man who sued the Catholic Archdiocese in Seattle over alleged sexual abuse by a priest has settled his case for $700,000, his attorney says.

Attorney Timothy Kosnoff said his client, whose identity was not reported, settled in part because certain jurors questioned why the then-13-year-old youth had visited Patrick O'Donnell after the priest allegedly sexually assaulted him, The Seattle Times reported Wednesday.

"In honesty, we were influenced by those four jurors who asked these questions about why he went back," Kosnoff said. "I don't want to call it blaming the victim, but it definitely signaled to us that jurors had questions about that and we had to take that into account."

Kosnoff's client had alleged O'Donnell, who is no longer a priest, sexually abused him while he was living in Seattle and again when the priest was residing in Spokane, Wash.

The man's allegations were part of a 2005 lawsuit filed against the archdiocese by four men, who all claimed to have been sexually abused by O'Donnell. The other three plaintiffs settled with the Seattle Archdiocese previously, the Times said. Kosnoff's client and one of the other plaintiffs also have settled their suits against the Spokane Diocese and the Sulpician Roman Catholic order that ran the seminary attended by O'Donnell.