NEW YORK

SYRACUSE — A woman who claimed her son was abused as a child by a priest has
decided against going to court and, instead, has agreed to a settlement.

According to the attorney for the family, the settlement includes a $150,000 payment by
the Diocese of Syracuse, but more importantly a letter of apology from the church. The
settlement allows the church to avoid a $16 million civil lawsuit, scheduled to begin in
state Supreme Court.

Both cases against Fr. Daniel W. Casey Jr. had been on the verge of being settled just
before a scheduled trial in July, but the one family balked at signing a settlement because
the agreement said the priest and church had done nothing wrong. The other family
apparently did not want to go to court and accepted a cash deal reportedly worth about
$325,000, according to their lawyer.

The twin lawsuits, which originally were filed separately but were scheduled to be tried
together, accused Casey of sexually abusing two brothers, then ages 10 and 12, in
December 1987 in a shower room at the State University of New York at Oswego, and
of molesting an 11-year-old boy between August 1988 and January 1989. The boys
claimed that Casey touched and kissed them, disrobed and had them remove their
clothes in the shower room.

(8/14 Associated Press)