The Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle must pay $350,000 to a man who claims he was sexually abused by a priest who once served in an Everett church.
The settlement, finalized last week in King County Superior Court, is the second settlement the diocese has agreed to pay in connection with Father James Knelleken, said James Rogers, an attorney who handled the current case. The first settlement was reached in 2007.
Neither men have released their names publicly.
Knelleken served at Immaculate Conception Church in Everett from 1984 to 1988, the year he was removed from ministry due to claims of sexual abuse. Knelleken died in 2003.
The man involved in last week’s settlement claimed that Knelleken sexually abused him in 1959 at Immaculate Conception Church in Raymond, in southwest Washington.
Knelleken also worked at churches in Bremerton and Seattle before he was removed from the ministry.
More than 10,000 people have accused priests of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred between 1950 and 2002, according to the John Jay Report, which examined clergy abuse. The church has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to settle those cases.
Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422, kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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