The Roman Catholic church in the United States paid out 615 million dollars (400 million euros) last year for child sex abuse cases involving members of the clergy, or 54 percent more than the previous year, a report showed Friday.
Of the monies paid out by the church, 526 million dollars went to settling cases -- almost double the amount paid out in 2006, according to the report commissioned by the church.
Around 23 million dollars was paid out for therapy for victims or support for accused offenders, and 60 million dollars for legal fees.
The annual report on the implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People showed that 689 new allegations of abuse were lodged last year -- three percent fewer than in 2006 -- but most involved cases dating back decades.
"Although the total number of new allegations declined from 2004 to 2007, the total costs related to allegations increased from 2004 through 2007, with a slight dip in 2006," the report said.
"The total allegation-related expenditures... increased by 54 percent between 2006 and 2007. Most of the increase was the result of a near-doubling (90 percent increase) in the amount paid for settlements in 2007," it said, showing that other pay-outs had fallen.
The scale of child abuse by priests remained hidden in the United States for years until the Archbishop of Boston confessed in 2002 to protecting a priest he knew had sexually abused young members of his church.
According to Terry McKiernan, president of "Bishop Accountability," which documents the abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic church, more than 5,000 priests out of the 42,000 across the United States have been denounced for sexual abuse.
"We know that the number is considerably over 5,000 now, and that on the basis of annual adjustments since the John Jay report came out in 2004," McKiernan told AFP.
The John Jay report was commissioned by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops from the eponymous College of Criminal Justice in Washington. It found that nearly 4,400 priests had been accused of abuse.
