A settlement has been reached in an abuse case that stirred controversy when a retired Jesuit superior claimed that Alaska Natives were "loose" on sexual matters.

The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus and the Society of Jesus Alaska settled for an undisclosed "large" amount with six men, some of whom are Alaska Native. The settlement will include counseling and college tuition for some of the victims' children.

The men had accused the late Rev. Jules Convert of molesting them while he worked as a priest in several Athabaskan and Yupi'k villages. The suit prompted his superior to claim, in a deposition, that the abuse would not have had much of an effect on the men because Native culture was "fairly loose" on sexual matters.

Get the Story:
Jesuits settle suit over sexual abuse (The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 5/18)

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Reverend claims Native culture loose on sexual matters (3/8)