The Victor Valley Union High School District has agreed to pay $12.5 million to eight former students who alleged they were sexually abused more than 20 years ago by a former middle school guidance counselor.

In five lawsuits filed in San Bernardino Superior Court in August and September 2022, the alleged victims claimed Eric Lynn Brown sexually abused and molested them in his office at Victor Valley Junior High School and off campus from 1991 to 2002. School officials, the suits alleged, were aware of the misconduct and failed to report it, enabling Brown to sexually abuse several children for more than a decade.

Brown, now 62, worked as a guidance counselor at the school from June 1995 until July 2002, district spokesperson Kristopher Reilly said.

Attorney Morgan Stewart, a partner at

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