Sex-abuse allegation settled 50 years later
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MANKATO, Minn. — A woman who was abused by a Catholic nun 50 years ago at a boarding school in Washington state will receive about $120,000 in a settlement, as well as an apology from the nun.
Sister Ramona Schweich, now 81, admitted she had sexual relations with Betty Davis when Davis was a 16-year-old student at a boarding school in the early 1950s. The school, in Colton, Whitman County, about 12 miles south of Pullman, was operated by Schweich's order, the Mankato-based School Sisters of Notre Dame.
Under the settlement reached Wednesday, the order also will pay for ongoing counseling for Davis, who now lives in San Jose, Calif.
Davis sued Schweich and School Sisters of Notre Dame last year.
Schweich admitted in sworn depositions that she had sexual contact with Davis on a couple of occasions but asserted that it wasn't abuse because Davis did not resist her advances.
Attorneys for Schweich and the order also said the lawsuit should be dismissed because it violated the statute of limitations.
Last year, School Sisters of Notre Dame reached a settlement with another former student who had accused Schweich of sexual misconduct.
Katherine Beebe received $30,000 after reporting that she and Schweich had a sexual relationship during her senior year, one year before Davis was involved with Schweich. Schweich denied any improper conduct with Beebe.