Tentative civil settlement in teacher molestation case

A tentative civil settlement has been reached in a child abuse case involving a former local teacher.

Families of two alleged, unidentified victims filed suit in January of 2013 against former Gerald Ford Elementary School teacher Robert Keith Bryan, the Desert Sands Unified School District, and the school principal.

The families claimed the school and district knew Bryan had a problem with touching children. but allowed him to continue teaching and be unsupervised with young female students.

Details of the tentative settlement weren’t released.

High profile criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos is representing the students through their guardians.

Geragos is known for representing clients like Michael Jackson and singer Chris Brown.

The 62-year-old Bryan is accused of molesting 8 children.

A judge ruled that there was enough evidence for Bryan to stand trial on 17 criminal counts following a preliminary hearing in October of 2013.

The charges include 12 felony counts of committing a lewd act with a child and five misdemeanor counts of molesting a child.

He was arrested in August of 2012 at his home in Palm Desert and is still facing criminal charges.

Bryan is due back in court in the criminal case in October.