Tentative $9.5M settlement reached in Stampede abuse lawsuit
Global News
'The Stampede has had every opportunity to make this easier for victims, but they chose to drag this on for as long as they did,' one victim said.
The Calgary Stampede has agreed to pay $9.5 million in damages to complainants in a class-action lawsuit that alleged the organization allowed a performance school staffer to sexually abuse young boys.
The agreement is related to the case of Phillip Heerema.
Heerema received a 10-year prison sentence in 2018 after pleading guilty to charges including sexual assault, sexual exploitation, child pornography and luring.
Heerema admitted he used his position with the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts — which performs each year in the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show — to lure and groom six boys into sexual relationships between 2005 and 2014, as well as in 1992.
The school is operated by the Calgary Stampede Foundation.
Last fall, the Stampede admitted to negligence and breach of duty and agreed to pay all damages, but the final number was not resolved.
Lawyer Cory Ryan, who represents the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede and the Calgary Stampede Foundation, said Tuesday the amount has been tentatively settled.
“The representative plaintiff and Stampede defendants have reached a tentative resolution on damages and costs, subject to court approval and the establishment of an approved claims and distribution process,” said Ryan in a statement.
