The Los Angeles Unified School District will pay another $3.55 million to two additional victims of former teacher and convicted pedophile Mark Berndt, a firm representing the victims said Tuesday.
The two unidentified victims agreed to settlements of $1.85 million and $1.7 million in cases against the LAUSD in connection with Berndt’s abuse.
“This settlement represents one more chapter in a horrendous scandal. Ten years after the largest sexual abuse settlement against a public school district, it is a continuing reminder of the damage that results when school officials choose to ignore red flags and complaints by students and parents of a serial sexual predator,” attorney Morgan Stewart said.
Berndt, who taught at Miramonte Elementary School, pleaded no contest to 23 charges of lewd conduct upon a child and was sentenced to 25 years in prison back in 2013.
He was arrested in January 2012 after submitting objectionable photos to a drugstore for development. An employee notified authorities that the images showed children blindfolded, some with tape over their mouths.
An investigation later found that, as part of a “tasting game,” Berndt had given his students cookies laced with bodily fluids, authorities said.
The lawsuits alleged that LAUSD officials ignored multiple complaints regarding Berndt’s sexual misconduct with children dating back to the early 1980s.
The district agreed to pay a record $140 million to 81 victims in 2014, the firm representing the victims stated.
LAUSD also paid about $30 million in claims to the families of 65 Miramonte students.