Lawyers representing an alleged sexual assault victim of former Stamford, Connecticut, elementary school teacher Robert Martinez pointed to dozens of depositions and firsthand knowledge of the teacher's alleged inappropriate touching and fondling of male students in the gym as the clinching factor in the Stamford Board of Education agreeing to settle the case for $440,000 this week.

While the Stamford Board of Education has maintained that it had no knowledge of the alleged abuse, which occurred between 1978 and 1980, plaintiff co-counsel Douglas Mahoney said he believes the local Board of Education had no choice but to settle after viewing the evidence presented.