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	Settlement Seen As Unlikely in Second Reardon Child Abuse Case By Edmund H. Mahony Hartford Courant July 6, 2011 http://www.courant.com/health/connecticut/hc-reardon-0707-20110706,0,4064277.story Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday in the second sexual abuse trial involving former St. Francis Hospital endocrinologist George Reardon and, unlike the first trial, it appears there will be no negotiated settlement to prevent the jury from returning a verdict and damage award. Lawyers said the hospital's primary insurer, The Travelers Cos., has effectively discontinued settlement talks, a position that would allow the jury to place a value on the abuse inflicted decades ago when Reardon used a phony growth study as pretext to abuse the now middle-aged plaintiff in the case. The insurer appears to have decided that a verdict and decision by the 6-member civil jury on compensation in the second case could serve as a departure point for talks to settle 60 more, nearly identical, Reardon/St. Francis abuse cases awaiting trial. An 11th-hour settlement is possible, as it was in the first abuse trial, when a weekend negotiation resolved the case after the jury had begun deliberating. But lawyers representing diverse interests in the Reardon/St. Francis cases said such a settlement is not expected in the second trial. "Travelers will never say that it's not interested in a settlement," a lawyer involved in the case said. "They'll even say that they've talked settlement. But the company has never really put forward anything realistic in this case." Said another: "We'll finally see what the jury thinks of these cases," A spokesman for Travelers, which has declined in the past to discuss matters in litigation, had no immediate comment. Reardon, who died in 1998, is accused of using a phony child and adolescent growth study he ran for decades at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center to abuse and take pornographic photographs of as many as 500 children. More than 50,000 photographs were found hidden in a false wall at his former West Hartford home in 2007. Since then, about 90 adult victims whose abuse fell within the statute of limitations have sued the hospital, with the photographs as documentation. Superior Court Judge Dan Shaban ordered the suits tried sequentially. Lawyers following the Reardon litigation had expected most if not all of the suits to have been settled by negotiation, and in a city dominated by the insurance industry, the narrative of horrendous abuse and potential for $100 million or more in judgments has attracted wide interest. But attempts at mediation failed as a result of wide disagreement over the price of Reardon's abuse between the plaintiff lawyers on the one hand and St. Francis and its insurer on the other. The only settlement so far came after Stratton Faxon, the law firm representing one plaintiff, dropped its demand significantly. Although the agreement was reached as jurors deliberated in the first plaintiff's trial, it covered suits of about 30 victims represented by Stratton Faxon. The settlement was confidential, but sources said at the time it was worth about $17 million. The prospect for settlements was chilled even further immediately after the Stratton Faxon settlement. The hospital released a statement, in conjunction with Travelers and its lawyers, claiming — even though the jury never reached a verdict — that it had proven its case and was "prepared to prove that again in court, as necessary." The victim in the second trial, identified in court as Tim Doe1, was the subject of what have been described by participants in the case as some of the most disturbing photographs taken by Reardon. They show the victim and his sister posed in simulated sex acts in Reardon's hospital office. The photographs were taken from 1969 to 1972. The victim, now a middle-aged insurance professional, was 9 when the abuse began. His sister was about 18 months older. Lawyers involved in the case said whatever verdict the jury returns is likely to result in an appeal. They said the resulting delay could increase pressure on victims to reach a settlement on the hospital's terms. Contact: emahony@courant.com
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