The sexual abuse scandal in San Diego diocese is a significant episode in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in the United States and Ireland.
Diocesan officials acknowledged that these cases, except for a few, were legitimate and mostly occurred before 1990. The few that were not considered legitimate were placed in the global settlement and, due to the settlement, will not be challenged.[1]
On February 27, 2007, the Diocese of San Diego filed for Chapter 11 protection, hours before the first of about 150 lawsuits was due to be heard. San Diego became the largest diocese to file for bankruptcy.[2]
On September 7, 2007, The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego agreed to pay $198.1 million to settle 144 claims of sexual abusebyclergy, the 2nd-largest payment by a diocese, terminating four years of settlement talks in state and federal courts.[3][4]
Robert Brom was accused of coercing a student into a sexual relationship at a seminary in Minnesota, where he once was rector and later headed the Diocese of Duluth. The alleged victim reportedly claimed that the incident of abuse occurred "in a coffin along with other bishops". Due to the "unusual" allegation, no criminal charges were brought at the time and, according to Brom, the settlement was made to offer psychological assistance for the alleged victim.[5][6][7]
