ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 30 (UPI) -- A $1.96 million settlement has been reached in two civil suits filed against a retired Jesuit priest who admits fathering children when he served in Alaska.
The Rev. James E. Jacobson, 83, acknowledges in a videotaped deposition that he fathered two children whom he has never supported or cared for, The Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News reported.
Jacobson also acknowledged numerous sexual encounters with seven women in rural Alaskan communities and paying for prostitutes with church and Jesuit funds.
Jacobson served in Western Alaska from the early 1960s until 1976.
The out-of-court settlement announced Friday will be shared by two men and two women, the Daily News said. The men sued Jacobson for children support and the two women accused him of rape.
For the past 25 years, Jacobson has been ministering to inmates at Oregon penitentiaries. He is restricted to the Regis Jesuit Community on the campus of Gonzaga University in Spokane.
