For immediate release:
Tuesday, Dec 7

For more information
Barbara Blaine of SNAP 312 399 4747 cell, 312 644 6404
Attorney Jeff Anderson (St. Paul) 651 227 9990, 612 817 8665 cell
Attorney Marc Pearlman (Chicago) 312 261 4554, 773 368 0142 cell

14 Clergy Sex Abuse Victims Settle Chicago Lawsuits

Abusive Ex-Priest Also Worked At Aquarium

Molester Worked in Four States

A settlement has been reached involving an ex-Chicago priest and 14 men who were molested as youngsters.

Many were victimized at St. Rita's parish in southwest Chicago during the 1970s and 1980s.

The molester is former priest John Daniel Murphy.

"No settlement can ever bring back a shattered childhoods, broken trust and betrayed faith," said Barbara Blaine of SNAP. "We praise these men for having the courage to speak up, expose a dangerous man, warn parents and achieve at least a small degree of justice. We wish them well with the healing journeys ahead."

These settlements are part of on-going negotiations involving multiple abusers and victims coordinated by plaintiff's attorney Jeff Anderson of St. Paul. Anderson has specialized in this type of litigation for two decades.

Murphy, who belonged to the Augustinian religious order, also worked in Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Michigan. He was ordained in 1968 and quit the priesthood in 1993 (he was working in Racine then), around the time church officials acknowledge receiving sexual abuse complaints about him. Murphy also worked at the Shedd Aquarium.