Attorney: Settlements reached in alleged abuse cases

BOSTON (AP) -- A lawyer for seven people who say they were sexually abused by Catholic priests says his clients have reached settlements involving financial compensation and counseling with the Archdiocese of Boston.

On March 28 attorney Mitchell Garabedian announced 16 settlements in all, including three with religious orders and settlements in cases in Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey and Ohio.

The settlements total about $1 million.

Garabedian says although the agreements carried no admission of liability, they were "validation for survivors."

He says one of the settlements involved a 90-year-old man who said he was abused by a priest in the 1930s.

A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston says although he could not comment on individual settlements, the archdiocese "is committed to addressing cases of clergy abuse in a compassionate and just manner."