Beaufort County, S.C. Settles Abuse Suit with Insurers

The Beaufort County School District has agreed to a $2.6 million settlement of a lawsuit with two insurance companies stemming from a student molestation case.

The Beaufort Gazette reports the settlement ends a four-year lawsuit between the district and the two insurance companies, United National Insurance and the South Carolina School Boards Insurance Trust.

The district sued the companies in 2007 to recover about $4.6 million the district paid to six molestation victims of former elementary school music teacher Philip Underwood-Sheppard.

The companies had paid $650,000 several years ago for the settlement, saying the cases should be combined into a single claim. A court later ruled the claims should be treated separately.

Underwood-Sheppard was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003.