The Associated Press

CENTRAL POINT — The group of Oregon parishes seeking to protect their assets from sex abuse claims against the Archdiocese of Portland is growing.

Officials at Shepherd of the Valley Catholic Church in Jackson County are the latest to indicate that they will "very likely'' join the Committee of Parishes, a group representing at least 34 of the 124 parishes in Oregon.

The idea is to shield property and other investments from being seized to pay $340 million in crimes from about 70 pending sex abuse lawsuits, after the Archdiocese of Portland filed for bankruptcy protection against the claims in July, the first diocese in the nation to do so.