Additional Former Students Settle With Theater Company

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Nine remaining lawsuits filed by former students who say they were abused by employees of the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis decades ago have reached settlements.

Attorney Jeff Anderson plans to announce the settlements at a news conference Friday. Minnesota Public Radio News reports the theater company faced lawsuits by 16 former students who say they were abused by former employees in the 1970s and 1980s.

Only one of the cases went to trial. Earlier this year, a civil jury found the Children's Theatre generally negligent, but not liable for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl by a company actor.

The lawsuits were possible by the Minnesota Child Victims Act of 2013, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for cases of child sexual abuse.