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Exclusive: Seattle Archdiocese pays nearly $7 million to 6 men who claim abuse

SEATTLE — KIRO 7 has learned that the Archdiocese of Seattle has paid nearly $7 million to settle six more claims of priests sexually abusing children.  All the men maintain the church knew, or should have known, the six priests posed a danger to children and failed to protect them.

Jim Haurer was a freshman at JFK High School in Burien when he says he was groomed and then abused by Father Theodore Marmo.

“I was raped twice. It affected my entire existence, from my spirituality to my physicality to my emotional, to my relationships with people to my intellectual pursuits,” Haurer told KIRO 7.

Another man, who asked not to be identified, said he was abused at the age of eight by Father Thomas Pitsch at St. Patrick Parish in Tacoma.

The man maintains Father Pitsch told him, “this is what God wants,” then raped him repeatedly over three years.  He told KIRO 7, “The fact that the church has not dealt with this the way they should deal with it speaks volumes."

The Archdiocese of Seattle has identified 78 church workers who are credibly accused of child sexual abuse.

On Tuesday, the Archdiocese of Seattle released this statement:

The Archdiocese of Seattle has reached settlements over the past two months in 7 individual cases involving allegations of clergy sexual abuse.  In each of these cases, the alleged abuse occurred between 30 and 60 years ago.  The Archdiocese has attempted to arrive at fair and just settlements to assist victims with healing and to achieve some measure of closure.  The members of the clergy involved in all of these cases are either deceased or have been permanently removed from ministry.  All of their names appear among those on the archdiocesan public disclosure list first published in 2016.

The Archdiocese of Seattle urges anyone who suspects abuse by any Church personnel to contact local law enforcement.  In addition, anyone who has knowledge of sexual abuse or misconduct by a member of the clergy, an employee or volunteer of the Archdiocese of Seattle is urged to call the archdiocesan hotline at 1-800-446-7762.

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