(AP Photo/Dinesh Ramde)

MILWAUKEE - A federal judge ruled Thursday that two claims could move forward against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for alleged sexual abuse by clergy, laying the groundwork for about 570 claims to follow.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests feared that if the archdiocese had been successful on its arguments - that the two claims were beyond the statute of limitations for fraud - 95 per cent of the cases could have ultimately been dismissed.

"This is a very decisive victory for victim survivors in this community," said Peter Isely, midwest director of the SNAP.

Kelley ruled the remaining two claimants couldn't argue negligence because the 3-year statute of limitations started at the time of their abuse - in the 1970s or early 1980s.

The attorneys for the archdiocese, Daryl Diesing and Francis LoCoco, said after the hearing they were not in a position to comment because they hadn't spoken with their client.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf said in a statement that they appreciated Kelley's prompt decision.

By the Feb. 1 deadline, about 570 people had filed restitution claims - many not available to the public - alleging fraud and negligence by the archdiocese.

The archdiocese argued that the 6-year statute of limitations was up on the fraud claims. They cited press coverage of alleged abuse in the 1990s and 2000s along with a list naming 43 alleged abused that the archdiocese published in 2004. All of that essentially started the statute of limitations clock, they argued, because it should have spurred the victims to begin investigating fraud.

But Judge Kelley sided with Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, the lawyers for about 350 claimants. She said there was no evidence that the victims read the articles, and the list didn't provide enough details on when the archdiocese became aware of the abusive priests.

Anderson noted in court Thursday that there were 100 newly identified accused abusers, including 70 priests, that allegedly committed 8,000 acts of sexual abuse within the cases he and Finnegan are representing.

SNAP's Isley said that the numbers Anderson cited in court were most significant thing to come out of the hearing, calling them "absolutely devastating."

"Our first concern is these offenders, where they are, who they are," he said. "That is a child safety and a public safety crisis as far as we're concerned. ... We would never find out about this without the court," Isely said.

About 60 people filled the small courtroom Thursday for the two-hour hearing, including many who filed claims. Mike Sneesby, 55, of Milwaukee, claims he was sexually abused by an associate pastor at a Milwaukee church in the 1970s.

He said the most important part of claims process is trying to uncover when and what the church knew and what they did about it.

"They have a moral responsibility to be accountable for this and release this for everybody so they can go on from here, that there is some closure in this," Sneesby said.