Sex cases ‘break diocese’

THE Portland Archdiocese is filing for bankruptcy, the first Roman Catholic diocese in the US to seek bankruptcy court relief in the face of accusations of sexual abuse.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy action put an immediate halt to a priest abuse case scheduled to have begun in Portland yesterday. It involves Fr Maurice Grammond, who was accused of molesting more than 50 boys in the 1980s.

Plaintiffs in two lawsuits involving Grammond have sought over $160 million.

The archdiocese and its insurers already have paid over $53 million to settle more than 130 claims.