$1.5bn for sexual abuse victims

PEOPLE who say they were sexually abused by priests could receive more than $1.5 billion in damages — $3.1 million per claimant - from the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles — more than any other US diocese has paid.

The settlement figure is based on a request by the lead attorney for hundreds of plaintiffs who live within the most populous US archdiocese that Church officials set aside $3.1 million for each claimant in Los Angeles and the adjacent Diocese of Orange County just south of Los Angeles, attorney Kathy Freberg said.

The church in Los Angeles faces about 493 child molestation claims, Freberg said. The Orange County diocese faces 63 similar claims. The combined number of claims in both dioceses is greater than in any other diocese, she said.