IMPORTANT NOTICE: Victims of sexual abuse – no matter how far in the past -- by priests in the Diocese of Camden wishing to file legal claims must do so soon.
The Camden Diocese has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, essentially placing a deadline on such claims. By late January, the bankruptcy court was expected to set a bar date by which victims must file proof of claims. That date will likely be Fall 2021.
Recently legislation in New Jersey created a two-year window during which victims of sexual abuse can file civil claims against their abusers and the Catholic Church regardless of whether the statute of limitations has passed.
If you or a loved one suffered sexual abuse by a priest in the Camden Diocese – covering Camden, Cumberland, Cape May, Atlantic, Gloucester and Salem Counties -- you may have grounds for a civil lawsuit. You should seek the assistance of a qualified attorney as soon as possible.
Kline & Specter, with more than 50 attorneys, has had significant success in litigation against Catholic priests accused of committing sexual abuse against children and teenagers. Our firm obtained the largest-ever, though confidential, settlement paid by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for a former altar boy who was abused by a pedophile priest. We also recently won a ruling by the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, keeping alive a lawsuit against a priest for alleged assaults against a teenager committed at the Jersey Shore.
Kline & Specter will provide a free, compassionate, and confidential evaluation of your case. Our attorneys are members of the Tort Creditors Committee involved in litigation involving the Diocese of Camden, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 1 and a reorganization plan on Dec. 31, actions that came after it was named in dozens of sexual abuse lawsuits.
More than 230 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by Catholic priests have reportedly been filed in New Jersey over the past year. A criminal investigation by the state attorney general uncovered numerous cases of assault after a Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 found more than 1,000 children had been abused over decades by about 300 priests in that state. The criminal probes have sparked civil actions.
Nationally, Catholic dioceses have paid out about $4 billion since the 1980s because of sexual abuse and the lawsuits continue to be filed as more than a dozen states have enacted so-called lookback laws allowing litigation of cases past statutes of limitations.
