Beaufort County: School district to pay $500,000 in abuse case

Beaufort County’s Board of Education agreed Tuesday to pay more than $500,000 to settle a lawsuit from a student who claimed to have been sexually abused by a music teacher.

Philip Underwood-Sheppard was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2003 for molesting at least nine students.

In August, the school district finalized a $4.6 million settlement for six victims. A seventh case was settled and paid by district liability insurers.

The eighth victim had rejected a $300,000 settlement offer from the district in February before agreeing to the $563,000 settlement.

Contributing: Staff writers Adam Beam and Ishmael Tate; The Associated Press