Brooklyn Diocese to pay record abuse settlement

As fallout continues to spread from the sex abuse scandal within the Roman Catholic Church, the diocese in Brooklyn, N.Y., has agreed to one of the church’s largest-ever settlements to four victims. The diocese will pay out more than $27 million to four men sexually abused as children by a religion teacher in Brooklyn, The New York Times reported.

Angelo Serrano is serving a 15-year prison sentence for the abuse, which took place between 2003 and 2009 when the boys were 8 to 12 years old. Serrano was not a church employee, but a judge in the case said the church ignored clear signs of ongoing misconduct. The settlement followed a statewide investigation announced two weeks ago by the New York attorney general into abuses and a cover-up within the Catholic Church.