After decades of what the state attorney general calls a mishandling of clergy sex abuse cases, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn agreed to install an independent secular monitor.

“There are many people like me out there. We know that there are not hundreds, but thousands in the state of New York,” Stephen Jimenez, a survivor of clergy sex abuse, said.

Jimenez also fights for fellow victims, including pushing for the passage of the state’s Child Victims Act, which is now law. Jimenez said he was just 10 years old when a member of the Xaverian Brothers began to abuse him.

“My abuse took place over several years while I was at Catholic elementary school in Brooklyn,” Jimenez said.

On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced an agreement with the diocese to address what she calls years of mismanaging clergy sex abuse claims.

Under the agreement, the diocese must now:

• Install an independent secular monitor who will oversee its compliance with handling sex abuse cases
• Acknowledge all complaints within five business days
• Create new offices and committees devoted to ensure the safety of minors
• Hire a clergy monitor, who will be diocese employee, to develop and oversee abuse prevention plans
• Announce via press release when a clergy member is removed from duty

“Yes, I’m really glad they’re doing it, but this should not be happening five years after the Child Victims Act was passed that finally there’s an agreement in place,” Jimenez said.

The Child Victims Act extends the statute of limitations for survivors of sex abuse. Now, Jimenez hopes the attorney general’s agreement will put pressure on insurance companies to pay claims for thousands of child sex abuse victims.

“Survivors who were abused as children are in a limbo. We are in a legal and moral limbo,” Jimenez said.

The Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation said roughly 10,000 insurance claims in New York state are unsettled. Jimenez said his abuser died in the 1990s and was never charged or convicted.

“If I weren’t sitting here feeling so passionate, the tears would be flowing down my face. And they’re not just flowing down for me, they’re flowing for all the other survivors,” Jimenez said.

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn Diocese said in a statement, “The diocese has had robust processes in place to prevent abuse, but this settlement agreement will enhance some of these protocols. The diocese is highly committed to protecting children and has put numerous programs in place in that effort.”