Seattle Public Schools settles teacher-abuse case for $3.05 million

Seattle Public Schools agreed to pay $3.05 million to victims of an elementary-school teacher who molested students over his 30 years teaching for the district.

Laurence E. "Shayne" Hill was sentenced in 2005 to five years in prison for molesting students he taught at Broadview-Thomson Elementary School. A lawsuit filed on behalf of two victims accused the district and a former principal of ignoring complaints about Hill for years.

The settlement includes an award of $2.5 million to the most severely damaged victim.

Police and prosecutors began investigating Hill after the mother of one of the victims walked into his classroom to deliver lunch to her 11-year-old daughter and found Hill sitting extremely close to her daughter with his hand on the girl's buttocks, according to court documents. According to charging papers, at least three school administrators or principals had previously talked to Hill about inappropriately touching students.

Police said a total of seven girls told detectives that Hill had touched or kissed them. The lawsuit also claimed that Hill kept a rubber breast and phallus in his desk drawer and that he groomed the primary victim with gifts and letters before sexually assaulting her for two years.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com