Jesus Creeps to pay $1.4M in sex-abuse case

By CARLA K. JOHNSON

The Archdiocese of Chicago said Thursday it has agreed to pay nearly $1.4 million to a man who claims he was sexually abused as a boy by a Catholic priest.

The Rev. Chester Przybylo allegedly abused the then-teenaged Polish immigrant at Five Holy Martyrs parish from 1987 through 1992, said attorney Jeff Anderson who represents the alleged victim.

Documents show the archdiocese was aware of allegations against Przybylo, who was never criminally charged, Anderson said.

The abuse allegedly began when the boy was 13 years old, according to a lawsuit filed in 2006. He is now in his 30s, married and living in Illinois, Anderson said.

Przybylo is now a pastor at an independent church in a Chicago suburb. A phone message left Thursday was not immediately returned.

Przybylo has filed a slander suit against his accuser, the accuser's attorneys and two organizations involved in priest abuse cases.

He was never a priest of the Chicago archdiocese, but ministered in archdiocese parishes, spokeswoman Susan Burritt said in a statement that confirmed the $1.375 million settlement.

The settlement comes one day after the archdiocese agreed to pay $1.2 million to a teenage boy and his mother, who claimed he was sexually abused by Daniel McCormack, the former pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church. McCormack pleaded guilty last year to abusing five other children and is serving a five-year prison sentence.

In August, Chancellor Jimmy Lago said the archdiocese had paid a total of $65 million over three decades to settle about 250 claims.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
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