DIOCESE OF ORLANDO FL

Credibly Accused Priests: 13 (including Fr. Peter Uniowski, not included in the diocese's report)
Total Priests: About 600 (calculated from percentage in Dorsey's letter)
Victims Who Came Forward: 37 (including Uniowski's alleged victim)
Cost: $4,268,226 (of which $3,408,913 for settlements in 1985; $293,022 in financial assistance, counseling, and medications for victims since 1990; and $566,291 in settlements since 1990)

See letter from Bishop Norbert Dorsey on p. 3 of the Florida Catholic, February 5, 2004.

Cost totals in Dorsey's letter differ slightly from the cost stated in Cathy Lynn Grossman, Survey: More Clergy Abuse Cases Than Previously Thought (2/10/04) with AP table of data for 74 dioceses.

See the Dallas Morning News database entry on Bishop Norbert Dorsey. The June 2002 database examined the records of bishops and identified those who had allowed accused priests to continue working or had otherwise protected priests accused of sexual abuse. The database is relevant to the bishops' "Nature and Scope" study because the bishops who prepared the surveys for the study are in many cases responsible for the "scope" of the problem.

Orlando Diocese Removed 12 Priests Accused of Sex Violations

By Cary McMullen cary.mcmullen@theledger.com
(Lakeland FL) Ledger
February 28, 2004

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll
/article?AID=/20040228/NEWS/402280394/1039

The Diocese of Orlando reported earlier this month that 12 priests had been removed after being accused of sexual misconduct from the time the diocese was created in 1968 to June 2002.

The diocese released its report on abuse cases in a letter from Bishop Norbert Dorsey that published in the Feb. 5 edition of The Florida Catholic Magazine. The diocese includes a dozen parishes and missions in Polk County.

According to the letter, 36 people claimed they were molested. The totals do not include an incident involving Peter Uniowski, who was removed as pastor of St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Lakeland in March 2003 over allegations of inappropriate conduct with a 12-year-old girl.

According to Dorsey's letter, the diocese paid more than $3.4 million in settlements in 1985. Since he became bishop in 1990, Dorsey stated, the diocese has paid a total of $566,291 in settlements and an additional $293,022 for victim assistance, counseling and medications.

A report released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Jan. 6 stated that the diocese has not entered into any confidentiality agreements since June 2002. Dorsey's letter did not say whether there were any confidential settlements before that.

The report commended the diocese for its compliance with guidelines to prevent and deal with sex abuse cases.