Bertram Adderley Clergy Abuse
The Catholic Church has made what is believed to be its highest ever payout to a victim of sexual abuse after church lawyers forced a 52-year-old man to give harrowing evidence in court about his rape by a priest in the 1970s.Peter* will receive $2.45 million plus legal costs to compensate him for abuse by teacher and priest Bertram Adderley, who groomed and raped him between 1977 and 1980 when he was aged 10 to 12.
Lawyers involved in seeking restitution for victims of sexual abuse say they believe the settlement is up to $1 million higher than any payout previously awarded to someone suing the Catholic Church.
The church is facing hundreds of claims after a number of jurisdictions removed rules that prevented people going to court to seek compensation for historical sexual abuse, even if they had previously accepted payouts from church-run schemes such as the Melbourne Response.