HARTFORD, Connecticut — A Connecticut man who accused a Catholic priest of sexually abusing him in the 1980s has agreed to a six-figure settlement with the Archdiocese of Hartford, the man’s attorney announced Wednesday.
The man, now 53, accused former priest Kenneth Bonadies of sexually abusing him repeatedly beginning when he was 14 in 1981 and continuing to 1985, when he was a student at East Catholic High School in Manchester, where Bonadies was a teacher.
The settlement, first reported by The Hartford Courant, was disclosed by the man’s lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, who said his client was abused more than 100 times. He did not provide the exact dollar amount of the deal.
The man told the newspaper in a phone interview that he reported his claims to the church earlier this year and agreed to a settlement in the “low six figures.” Garabedian did not identify the man, and The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually assaulted.
“I feel a tremendous amount of satisfaction that it’s been exposed and it’s known about,” the man said. “I think it’s important that everyone knows so healing can begin.”
Officials with the archdiocese declined to comment, citing a policy against discussing legal matters. Contact information for Bonadies could not immediately be found.
The archdiocese this week added Bonadies’ name to its directory of clergy members who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse, bringing the number of priests on the list to 49. Church officials posted the directory onIine in 2019, following a review of records that showed the archdiocese had paid more than $50 million to settle more than 140 claims of sexual abuse by priests dating to 1953.
Bonadies was ordained in 1965 and retired in 2004, before the church received any abuse claims against him, according to church records.
