Los Angeles School District Pays $140 Million in Child Sex AbuseSettlement

The Los Angeles school district has shelled out $140 million to families of students subjected to sexual assault by an elementary school teacher, officials said Friday.

All lawsuits involving the case were settled by the parties even as jury selections were going on for the trial cases.

A judge will determine how the money will be distributed among the 80 plaintiffs  based on the emotional damage they suffered.

This is the largest such settlement by any school district authorities. "If I were a board member in this district, I would hang my head in shame," said attorney John Manly, according to  abc7.com.

Earlier the LA school authorities paid out $30 million to settle a dozen sexual assault lawsuits related to the same teacher.

"Throughout this case, we have shared in the pain felt by these children, their families and the community," Superintendent Ramon Cortines said in a statement, reports Reuters.

Mark Berndt,  the 63-year-old teacher, was  arrested in 2012 and sentenced to 25 years in prison a year ago. He pleaded no contest. He was charged with 23 counts of lewd acts upon a child.

He had taken many bondage style photographs of young children. Pictures found on him showed blindfolded and tied children with semen covered cookies or with cockroaches crawling all over.  Children alleged that he force fed the cookies.

 An out-of-court settlement will spare the children years of prolonged trauma and litigations, say the authorities who worked for such an agreement.