The Assoicated Press
NEW YORK- A woman who sued the city and the police department after claiming officers refused to help her when she was sexually abused after a parade in 2000 settled with the city for $125,000 Thursday.
The settlement was announced as lawyers were about to give opening statements before a jury.
Anne Peyton Bryant was one of more than 50 women who alleged that after the Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 11, 2000, mobs of men and boys in Central Park doused them with water, stripped their clothes and groped them while police officers ignored their pleas for help.
Bryant, a law school student, said she pursued her case “to prevent other women from having to go through what I went through. Unfortunately, it took this long for the city to take responsibility.”
City lawyers left the court without comment.
Attorney Susan Karten said Bryant’s was the last of 17 cases she had filed against the city in connection with the parade. Another was settled for $125,000, and other settlements ranged from $3,000 to $50,000, Karten said.