Jeff Smith (TV Personality) - Sexual Abuse Allegations and Settlement

Sexual Abuse Allegations and Settlement

In 1997 seven men filed suit against Smith alleging that he sexually abused them when they were teens. Six of the plaintiffs alleged that the abuse occurred in the 1970s while they were working for Smith at the Chaplain's Pantry; the seventh plaintiff alleged that he was sexually assaulted in 1992 at age 15 while hitchhiking. Smith denied the accusations but his alleged actions had been the subject of much talk around the city of Tacoma for years. Smith was never charged with a crime but in 1998 he and his insurance company settled with the plaintiffs out of court a few days before the trial was to occur.

Read more about this topic:  Jeff Smith (TV Personality)

Famous quotes containing the words abuse and/or settlement:

    Children are extraordinarily precious members of society; they are exquisitely alert, sensitive, and conscious of their surroundings; and they are extraordinarily vulnerable to maltreatment or emotional abuse by adults who refuse to give them the profound respect and affection to which they are unconditionally entitled.
    Wisdom of the Elders, quoted in Kids Are Worth It, by Barbara Coloroso, ch. 1 (1994)

    ... if the Settlement seeks its expression through social activity, it must learn the difference between mere social unrest and spiritual impulse.
    Jane Addams (1860–1935)