LOS ANGELES — Victims of a Los Angeles-area high school wrestling coach who was convicted of sexually molesting nine children were awarded $52 million in a settlement on Wednesday. Prosecutors said Gillard met his victims while working with wrestling teams at the high school and at the Tigers Wrestling Club at the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley, which also was sued, according to the newspaper. The lawsuit alleged that the Los Angeles Unified School District knew of prior sexual misconduct and did nothing about it, according to the Times. “The size of this settlement highlights the tremendous harm done to our clients by Terry Gillard and the abject failure of LAUSD to protect the students at Francis Polytechnic High School from this truly deranged predator,” lead attorney Morgan Stewart said. “Our lawsuit also exposed LAUSD’s Student Safety Investigation Team as a fraud and a public relations gimmick.”©2022 Cox Media Group

Source: Los Angeles Times October 13, 2022 00:43 UTC