SPOKANE, Wash. - Former Catholic priest Patrick G. O'Donnell has apologized through his lawyer to the victims of his sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s.
The apology came during a telephone conference call Wednesday before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno, in which O'Donnell also agreed to pay $5 million to his victims in return for avoiding a civil trial in a scandal that helped bankrupt the Catholic Diocese of Spokane.
The 24 people who sued him don't expect to receive much money. That's because O'Donnell, who worked as a psychologist in the Bellevue area after he left the priesthood in 1986, contends he has few assets.
His victims believe O'Donnell does have money, but hid it over the years in anticipation of legal actions.
O'Donnell also faces lawsuits filed by alleged victims in the Seattle area, according to Timothy Kosnoff, lawyer for the victims.
Police never arrested O'Donnell because the statute of limitations on his crimes had long expired.
In a deposition given last year, O'Donnell said he quit molesting boys in the fall of 1980. He now lives in the Puget Sound community of La Conner, and his home and retirement funds cannot be used to pay the settlement.
The lawsuits against O'Donnell were the spark that led to the multimillion-dollar bankruptcy of the Catholic Diocese of Spokane. The diocese eventually settled by offering to pay victims $48 million that it is raising through sale of assets and by donations.
A total of 66 people contended that O'Donnell molested them, although only 24 filed suit.
The O'Donnell case was especially damaging to the diocese because records indicated church leaders might have known about his actions. Instead of calling police or stripping him of church duties, O'Donnell was shipped from parish to parish.
Neither the settlement with O'Donnell, the publishing of clergy names, policy changes to prevent future abuse nor the money collected from the diocese bankruptcy has completely satisfied childhood victims.
"Healed? Hell no," said Steve Barber after the court hearing.
"I want to go back to when I was 13 years old and never have this happen to me," he said.
O'Donnell's telephone number is unlisted and for years he has declined to talk with reporters.
O'Donnell, 66, has admitted molesting dozens of teenage boys over three decades.
