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:
“But I’ve heard mankind abuse thee;
And perhaps it’s rather strange,
But I thought that I would choose thee
For encomium, as a change.”
—Charles Stuart Calverley (1831–1884)
“A Settlement is above all a place for enthusiasms, a spot to which those who have a passion for the equalization of human joys and opportunities are early attracted.”
—Jane Addams (1860–1935)