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LA pays Miramonte school abuse victims $139M

Plaintiffs' attorney warns school district to increase vigilance against sex crimes.

By Mary Papenfuss

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to pay $139 million to settle claims brought on behalf of 82 children who charged that they were sexually abused by a third-grade teacher at Miramonte Elementary School.

The district paid $30 million last year to settle claims brought by the families of dozens of other children in the same case.

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Teacher Mark Berndt last year pleaded no contest to 23 counts of lewd conduct with a child and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Accusations against him included reports that he masturbated in the classroom, inappropriately touched children, gagged and blindfolded students, and fed them semen.

A lawyer for some of the plaintiffs in the most recent case warned local school officials to be vigilante in policing the issue.

"Today is not the end of the Miramonte child abuse scandal, it is the beginning of change," attorney Brian Claypool said outside the Los Angeles County Courthouse.

He pointed to the tale of one of his clients, a third-grader who wanted to die after her abuse.

John Manly, another attorney who handled other cases, said there was a "volcano of evidence" of negligence by school officials, and that the district settled because "there was a legal gun pointed at their head."

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LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines said the district would continue to work with parents and communities to better protect students.

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