Two teenage boys were each awarded more than $3 million Thursday from Los Angeles Unified as compensation for being sexually abused in elementary school by a former teacher.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury deliberated for less than a day before reaching its verdict. The district previously admitted liability for the actions of ex-Telfair Avenue Elementary School third-grade teacher Paul Chapel III.
The trial dealt only with the amount of damages the boys, now ages 14 and 13, should receive. The panel awarded a total of $3.1 million to the older child and $3,085,700 to the younger boy. Most of the money will cover their past and future pain and suffering, which was assessed at $2.75 million apiece.
Plaintiffs' attorney John Manly praised the jury's verdict.
"We are so grateful that these members of the community saw the case the way we did," Manly said.
In his final argument Wednesday, attorney Craig Barnes, on behalf of the district, argued that the boys should each receive just less than $500,000 while also not disputing that there was abuse.
The attorney said both boys have done well in school despite their troubled histories with Chapel.
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The younger of the two plaintiffs attends a magnet campus, Barnes said. The younger boy was a student of Chapel's.
The older child had a different teacher, but visited Chapel's Pacoima classroom often, saying he was enticed by Chapel's offerings of his favorite candies. The molestations of the two plaintiffs took place within the time period of 2009-11.
Chapel, now 54, is serving a 25-year sentence imposed in 2012, after he pleaded no contest to molesting 13 boys during a roughly 4 1/2-year period.
The LAUSD previously reached a $5 million settlement with another group of former Telfair students in June 2014 and $4.42 million with three more former students in May.
"We would like to thank the judge and jury for the time and effort they invested in this tria," said LAUSD General Counsel David Holmquist in a statement. "We are currently weighting our options going forward in light of our review of certain aspects of the trial."
