Church Faces 140 Child Abuse Claims

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=UXIWOQRP2HPN1QFIQMGCFGGAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2006/08/03/nabuse03.xml
The Roman Catholic Church faced fresh embarrassment over child abuse allegations yesterday after one of the country's largest class actions was launched against a former Catholic children's home.

Up to 140 men are suing the authorities responsible for the St William's Community Home in Market Weighton, East Yorks, where they claim a brutal regime of sexual and physical abuse was allowed to run unchecked for 30 years.

The action could result in damages running into millions of pounds, a potentially severe blow to the Church, which has recently had to make a number of large payouts to victims.

Last year, a man who was psychologically damaged by a decade of abuse by a priest in Coventry was awarded £1 million in the High Court.