Judge sides with archdiocese, reaffirms Monday filing deadline for clergy abuse claims

A bankruptcy judge has reaffirmed the deadline for when victims of clergy sex abuse must file their claims against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Victims' attorneys challenged the Aug. 3 deadline in court Thursday, asking the judge to honor the May 25, 2016, deadline that was set by the 2013 Child Victim’s Act, which gives adult survivors of child sexual abuse until next spring to file a civil lawsuit for past abuse.

But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel reaffirmed the decision he made in April to push up the deadline in order to speed up the archdiocese's reorganization plan, the Star Tribune reports.

The creditors committee, which is made up of sex abuse victims, argued that the deadline should be pushed back to May because the archdiocese didn't fully comply with court orders to publicize the earlier filing date, MPR News reported.

Attorneys also say the Aug. 3 deadline won't speed up the financial reorganization within the archdiocese.

This comes after the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed for bankruptcy in January of this year following a flurry of abuse lawsuits – more than 230 incidents of clergy abuse have been filed against the archdiocese and its 187 parishes, KSTP notes.