Crosiers settle abuse claims for $1.7M

(AP) - The Crosiers religious order has agreed to pay $1.7 million to nine men to settle allegations of sexual abuse from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The settlement was announced Thursday morning. St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson scheduled a news conference in St. Paul with one of the victims for Thursday afternoon.

Prior Thomas R. Carkhuff says the Crosiers are deeply sorry for the abuse committed in the past by its members, and hopes the settlement will help the victims heal.

Of the four men accused in the lawsuits, two remain with the Crosier Order but are living under certain restrictions and do not have a public ministry.

Carkhuff says the other two men left the order in the 1980s.

The Crosier Fathers and Brothers is a Roman Catholic religious community of men that has its U.S. base in Phoenix and has a community in Onamia, Minn.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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