RVC Diocese To Pay $323 Million To Sexual Abuse Survivors: Judge

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — Hundreds of sexual abuse cases involving nearly 600 survivors and the Diocese of Rockville Centre have concluded, Newsday reported.

A bankruptcy judge on Wednesday granted a $323 million settlement.

The settlement was approved by nearly 99 percent of the survivors who voted for the deal, Newsday said.

The matter was mediated by Slater Slater Schulman LLP, which represented 100 survivors.

"This settlement with the Diocese of Rockville Centre is a watershed moment," said Adam Slater, founding and managing partner of Slater Slater Schulman LLP. "It represents the largest diocesan settlement in New York State and largest settlement involving a diocese in bankruptcy nationwide."

Patch attempted to get a comment from the Rockville Centre Diocese.

The bankruptcy settlement was agreed to in September in an effort to pay survivors and halt jury trials.

It was a four-year road to Wednesday's order by Judge Martin Glenn. The bankruptcy filing began in October 2020.

"Notably, it’s also the first such settlement following the Supreme Court's Purdue Pharma decision on non-consensual third-party releases," Slater said. "Most critically, it brings long-awaited justice to 600 survivors, 100 of whom my firm was proud to represent."

The bankruptcy was originally filed after hundreds of child sex abuse lawsuits made possible by the Child Victims Act. The CVA opened a “lookback” window that temporarily suspended the statute of limitations and bestowed survivors with the unprecedented opportunity to seek restitution for decades-old child sex abuse crimes. During a two-year period that ended in August 2021, PCVA and The Marsh Law Firm filed nearly 700 cases in state court.