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USC to pay $ 1.1 billion in sexual abuse settlements to former campus gynecologist patients

The University of Southern California agreed to pay more than $ 1.1 billion in settlements to former patients from George Tyndall, a former campus gynecologist who has been accused of sexually assaulting a "generation of young USC women."

The university said Thursday that it expected the settlements – supposedly the largest payment for sexual abuse in university history – would mark "the end of a painful and ugly chapter in the history" of the school.

The huge payment is a combination of an $ 852 million settlement approved Thursday by the Los Angeles Superior Court; a 2018 $ 215 million federal class action settlement; and a third agreement, the terms of which have not been made public.

Thursday's settlement will be divided among 710 women who said Tyndall abused them. The Los Angeles Times said that an arbitrator will determine the exact amount each claimant will receive in the coming months.

Tyndall was arrested in 2019 and charged with 29 counts of sexual assault. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is awaiting trial.

USC President Carol Folt said in a letter to the school community that she was "deeply saddened by the pain experienced by the women" who had trusted Tyndall as a doctor and praised "the courage of everyone who came forward."

He said he hoped the settlements would provide "some relief."

Tyndall served for decades as the only full-time gynecologist at the campus health clinic Hundreds of USC alumni have accused him of sexual abuse and harassment, including performing unnecessary pelvic exams and taking photographs of patients' genitalia.

USC officials h have come under scrutiny for not responding to complaints about Tyndall.

According to the Los Angeles Times, which won a Pulitzer Prize for its 2018 exposition of the abuse allegations, USC learned for the first time of the allegations in the 1990s, but it wasn't until 2016 that the school suspended Tyndall from his job.

John Manly, a lawyer for the women who sued USC said his team had proven in court that USC “knew for the better part of 30 years that Tyndall was assaulting patients.”

dollars because nothing happened or they are not responsible, "Manly said, the LA Times reported.

Following the announcement of the agreement Thursday, some of Tyndall's former patients lamented the fact that that no USC official has been charged with a crime.

"Today's agreement, while important, actually brings me a bit of sadness," Lucy Chi, who said she was abused by Tyndall during a physical exam in 2014, told reporters.

“The USC allowed thousands of women to be abused by the gynecologist and when they found out, they covered up, helped and incited all those sexual assaults and nobody in the administration, in the leadership of the USC has taken responsibility. ”

Need help? Visit RAINN's National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center website .

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