Selwyn House agrees to $5M fund for alleged sex-abuse victims
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 | 8:20 PM ET
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The Quebec Superior Court has approved a $5-million compensation fund for former students, their partners and their parents for alleged sexual abuse at the exclusive Montreal private school Selwyn House.
The settlement announced Tuesday evening comes more than three years after nearly 35 former students launched a class-action lawsuit against the school over allegations dating back to the 1960s.
Their lawsuit names three teachers — Leigh Seville, James P. Hill and John Aimers — who are all accused of molesting the former students. None of the allegations has been proven.
Last year, Judge Pierre Gagnon rejected a $5-million compensation fund offered by the school to settle the lawsuit because it didn't contain an opt-out clause for alleged victims to sue individually if they felt the compensation wasn't enough.
Selwyn House and the alleged victims' lawyers rewrote the proposal to include an opt-out clause, and the judge signed off on the settlement.
Seville committed suicide in 1991 after being confronted by school authorities about the allegations of abuse. He taught at Selwyn House, located in the tony Montreal Island municipality of Westmount, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Hill's whereabouts are unknown. He was an instructor between 1961 and 1972.
Aimers, the former head of the Monarchist League of Canada, taught debating in the 1970s. He signed the 2007 settlement agreement filed in court and denies any wrongdoing.
The school must pay for notices of the settlement in major newspapers. Alleged victims have 90 days to file a claim for compensation from the fund.
One alleged Selwyn House victim, known only by the initials T.Y., said the one thing he and his fellow students need is the one thing the school has yet to offer — an apology.
For its part, Selywn House has said it will apologize at the appropriate time and in an appropriate way. But T.Y. said he's going to the police on Wednesday to file a criminal complaint and to ask them to launch an investigation.
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