Pocono News Section

Church Settles in Sexual Abuse Civil Trial

Church Settles in Sexual Abuse Civil Trial - Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 11:00AM EST

Reported by: Joe Holden
Thursday, Nov 8, 2007 @11:00am EST
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- The civil case filed against a former priest and the Scranton Diocese is settled for millions.

The plaintiff says former priest Albert Liberatore sexually abused him from 1999 to 2002, beginning when the boy was 14.

A $3 million dollar settlement was agreed upon by both sides late Wednesday and was approved in Scranton Federal Court this morning, ending the trial just 2-days into testimony.

Liberatore was the pastor at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Duryea when the abuse happened.

He plead guilty in 2005 in Luzerne County and New York to sexually abusing the victim and was sentenced to 10 years probation and defrocked.