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Category: Settlements

September 9, 2020

Victims of Father John J. Gallagher’s sexual abuse awarded multimillion dollar settlement decades later

11 victims of sexual abuse by clergy members have been awarded a $1.4 Million settlement. The victims claim Father John J. Gallagher, a former Lawrence priest abused them in the 1970s, according to the suit. The settlement in the case was awarded to one man and 10 women, all of whom are now in their 50s, claimed that Father John J. Gallagher sexually abused them when they were students at St. Mary’s School in Lawrence. Gallagher, who died15 years ago, had already been accused of abusing three women when they were young girls at the Lawrence parish. That […]

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June 18, 2020

Former Edison High School student claims teacher abused him in the 1980’s

Under the Child Victims Act, a former Edison High School student is suing The township Board of Education claiming he was sexually abused by a teacher in the 1980s. The suit, filed in Superior Court last week, alleges that the school board “failed to take reasonable steps” to protect the student from the abuse. ITh suit claims that the shop teacher Frederick Burkley, from 1983 to 1985, “groomed” the student “to gain his trust and to obtain control over him” as part of a plan to sexually molest and abuse him. Burkley, who has since died, also served […]

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June 11, 2020

Former Firefighter pays large settlement to man accusing him of sexually abusing him when he was a child

Hugo Fleites , a former city firefighter was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex abuse of a child dating back to 1997. Fleites was ordered to pay $2.75 million in compensatory damages, $2 million in punitive damages, and $8,441 in legal fees, resulting in a settlement of more than $4.75 million. The victim, identified as John Doe in court documents, says he was just 12 years old when Fleites, then 35, began sexually abusing him. The man’s parents were friends with Fleites when the man was a child and through that contact became a friend of […]

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