Victims' Attorneys Manly, Stewart & Finaldi Announce $88 Million Settlement Against LAUSD In Child Sex Abuse Cases

LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys representing 30 victims of alleged sexual abuse by two Los Angeles Unified School District Teachers announced an $88 million settlement of claims against the School District.

In February and March of 2016, Manly, Stewart & Finaldi was able to successfully negotiate the resolution of 30 outstanding child sexual abuse claims against the Los Angeles Unified School District resulting from the sexual abuse of minor students at TelFair Elementary School, in Pacoima, by Paul Chapel III, and George De La Torre Elementary School, in Wilmington, California, by Robert Pimental.

In total, 18 De La Torre victim cases were settled for a total of 58 million dollars and 12 Telfair cases were settled for a total of 30 million dollars, for a total global settlement amount of 88 million dollars.

"These historic settlements occurred because of overwhelming evidence that the District ignored warnings, employee reports and parent complaints that both of these horrible men were molesting dozens of children in the classroom.  These reports made their way to the highest levels of District leadership where they were either ignored entirely or actively suppressed and the predators allowed to remain in the classroom.  The question that the District needs to answer is how could this have happened?  The LAUSD Board has not held a single public hearing on this issue nor does it plan to. The public deserves answers," said victims' attorney John C. Manly.

The settlements come on the heels of historic trial verdicts by John C. Manly, Vince W. Finaldi and Alex Cunny, of Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, in November, 2015, in the Los Angeles Superior Court, on behalf of two young victims of sexual abuse by Chapel at Telfair. The jury in those cases awarded the victims $3,110,200.00 and $3,085,700.00 respectively after deliberating for a day.

"These settlements close a dark chapter of LAUSD's history at Telfair and George De La Torre elementary schools, assisting these victims in reaching healing for their substantial sexual abuse by Chapel and Pimental, who are currently serving long prison sentences for their abuses," said victims' attorney Vince W. Finaldi.   

About Manly, Stewart & Finaldi
Manly, Stewart and Finaldi is California's leading law firm representing child victims of sexual abuse.  The firm has represented more than 150 victims of clergy sexual abuse in California and hundreds of others throughout the United States.  The firm also represented plaintiffs in the $140,000,000 settlement against LAUSD in the Miramonte case, the largest sex abuse settlement against a School District in the US.

SOURCE Manly, Stewart & Finaldi