CCR-1 Settles With Molestation Victim For $3.1 Million

The Crawford County R-1 School District agreed to a $3.1 million settlement with a victim who was molested on a school bus in April 2023.

KSDK reported that the settlement was made last month.

The victim was molested by James H. Philpot, 74, who was sentenced in February to 15 years in prison.

Grant Boyd, who represented the victim’s family, said what he discovered is that the school district “absolutely knew” that Philpot had been convicted for sex offenses.

“There seemed to be some kind of indication given to the family by someone at the district that they were only looking at things that occurred in the last 20 to 25 years,” Boyd told KSDK.

Philpot’s history goes back more than 50 years. He was charged in California in 1968 for indecent exposure for urinating on a beach. 

In 1969, he was charged there for assault with intent to rape. 

The victim was molested April 27 and April 28, 2023.

Bus surveillance caught both instances.

Philpot was charged just days later.

He pleaded guilty Feb. 5 to one count of molesting a child less than 12 years old.

Philpot is incarcerated at the Fulton Reception & Diagnostic Center. 

“There's no amount of money that can ever rewind the clock for child sexual abuse survivor, but with this settlement, it will ensure that whatever this girl needs moving forward in her life, and whatever she wants to pursue, whatever her passions are, she will not have a single impediment,” Boyd told KSDK.

The school district declined to comment to the station.