Connecticut diocese settles priest abuse case for $900,000

NORWICH, Conn. – A Roman Catholic diocese in Connecticut has agreed to pay a former altar boy $900,000 to settle claims that he was sexually abused by a priest.

The lawsuit against the Diocese of Norwich was filed in 2016 by a man who said he was abused “hundreds of times” starting when he was 11 years old in 1990 and continuing for six years by late priest Paul Hebert at Most Holy Trinity Church in Pomfret.

The Hartford Courant reports that the sides were supposed to pick a jury in January but the trial was postponed while further mediation took place.

The diocese in statement said it hopes the settlement “brings closure to the parties involved.”

An attorney for the former altar boy says his client “is relieved that this ordeal is over.”