Jackson, Miss., Aug 30, 2019 / 18:00 pm
The Diocese of Jackson in Mississippi said it did not pressure a victim of clerical sexual abuse to accept settlement offers after he was abused by a Franciscan brother in the late 1990s. Earlier this year, that victim and his cousin were paid $15,000 each by a Wisconsin-based Franciscan province - a lower amount than typical settlements- to settle their abuse claims.
The Associated Press reported Aug. 27 that La Jarvis Love and his cousins, brothers Joshua and Raphael Love, alleged that they had been repeatedly abused during the 1990s by Brother Paul West, OFM, when they were elementary school students at St. Francis of Assisi School, in Greenwood, Mississippi.
Earlier this year, Father James Gannon, Provincial Minister for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province of the Franciscan Friars, met with La Jarvis, his wife, and his three small children at an IHOP restaurant in northern Mississippi outside of Memphis. He brought along a four-page agreement that the Franciscans would pay him $15,000, which included a nondisclosure requirement, which Love signed and dated Jan. 11, 2019.
A statement from the diocese said that the Victim Assistance Coordinator, Valerie McClellan, was present at a different meeting during which Gannon met with Joshua Love, La Jarvis' cousin, who also was abused. Joshua ultimately signed a $15,000 agreement as well.