St. George's to Settle Up to 30 Sex Abuse Claims

St. George's to Settle Up to 30 Sex Abuse Claims

St. George's School announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to settle up to 30 former students' claims of sexual abuse. 

The announcement was made in a joint statement with a group representing the victims -- St. George's will provide an undisclosed amount of money to settle the claims, with a mediator in charge of determining how much each person will receive.

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The news on Wednesday marks the latest development in the sexual abuse scandal for the Middletown, Rhode Island prep school, dating back to last December.  As GoLocal reported:

In the midst of the holiday week, the school released a letter to alumni including a report that admitted widespread sexual abuse. The report prepared by the law firm Schwartz Hannum admits that at least six staffers were involved in sexual abuse, but only named one of the former employees — Al Gibbs.

The school announced in January it was hiring independent investigators to look into the allegations.

The Rhode Island State Police was brought in to investigate in January was well, at which time 23 victims had come forward, but one of the lawyers for the victims, Carmen Durso, told GoLocal that that number has risen to at least 40.

In June the Rhode Island State Police announced the statue of limitations had expired:

"The Rhode Island State Police and the Rhode Island Department of the Attorney General have determined that there is no prosecutable criminal conduct and have closed the St. George's School investigation," GoLocal reported.