Women settle suit alleging Liberty mishandled assault cases

 By Sarah Rankin - Posted at Baptist Press:

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit 12 women brought last summer against Liberty University accusing the Christian institution of fostering an unsafe environment on its Virginia campus and mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment.

A notice of dismissal filed Wednesday by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Jack Larkin, said the case had been settled but provided no details about the terms.

In a statement Thursday, Liberty said a settlement had been reached with all the plaintiffs and all but two additional women Larkin represented. The university did not disclose the terms of the agreement but outlined a number of other changes it has undertaken in recent months to improve campus security and review how it responds to incidents of sexual harassment or violence.

“Liberty University president Jerry Prevo made it clear when the Jane Does filed their lawsuit that, despite certain claims being potentially outside of the statute of limitations, the university was committed to doing what it could to ‘make things right’ with the plaintiffs,” the statement said.

Larkin did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. But he told TV station WDBJ the settlement terms were confidential.

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