21 Sexual Abuse Victims Reach $1.9 Million Settlement With Bergen Catholic High School

ORADELL, NJ — A lawyer representing seven alleged child sexual abuse victims at Bergen Catholic High School said Monday that 21 victims settled with the school for $1.9 million.

The 21 victims were allegedly abused between 1963 and 1978 by 10 Irish Christian Brothers and one lay teacher at the high school, said Robert Hoatson, the president of Road to Recovery Inc., which assists victims of sexual abuse.

The victims were between 13 and 17 when the alleged abuse occurred, Hoatson said.

"When the abuse allegedly occurred, there's a consternation that exists within the victims," Hoatson said. "Now with the settlement reached, they can move forward. If they haven't been able to recover, now they can start."

The settlement was reached outside of the criminal court system and did not involve charges being filed, as the statute of limitations ran out on any potential sexual abuse charges decades ago.

Hoatson said he believes that there are more victims than the 21 named in the settlement and that more will come forward now that there has been some degree of acknowledgement that sexual abuse did occur. The victims will receive between $65,000 and $115,000 each, Hoatson said.

"Every time something like this comes out, more and more victims come forward," Hoatson said.

Road to Recovery hosted a press conference in front of the school Monday announcing the settlement.

Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer representing seven of the alleged victims, told NorthJersey.com that the victims are between 53 and 68 years old.

Several of the alleged victims protested outside of the school last year and said that officials had "dragged their feet," according to NorthJersey.com, during the four years of settlement talks.

Two of the alleged victims, Peter Alrutz and Bill Moakler, could not be reached for comment.

The college preparatory school's principal, Timothy McElhinney, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday afternoon.

Bergen Catholic is an all-boys Catholic high school in Oradell. The school bills itself as educating "the whole person — mind, body, and spirit — by deepening religious faith, developing academic excellence, and strengthening social consciousness and responsibility."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Editor's note: More information on the settlement can be found here.

Photo: Bergen Catholic High School — used with permission under Creative Commons license