SPOKANE, Wash. – More than 500 people in the U.S. Northwest filed claims against the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus in advance of a November deadline, alleging members of the Catholic order sexually abused them as children.
The Spokesman-Review in Spokane reports the claims against the Jesuits span decades and range from Native Alaskan children to students at Spokane's Gonzaga Preparatory School.
A federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy reorganization of the province set a Nov. 30 deadline for people to file the claims. The organization includes Jesuits in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
The Jesuits already have settled 200 additional sex-abuse claims.
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