DETROIT – Three years after Charles Pugh, a former Fox 2 news anchor and Detroit City Councilman, fled Detroit in the middle of the night running from a sex scandal, he finally dropped his appeal in a sexual grooming case and began paying his victim.
According to information presented at the November 2015 trial, Pugh sexually pursued a former student from the all-male Frederick Douglass Academy for months after meeting him in a mentorship program. The plaintiff testified in court that Pugh sent him dirty text messages, took him shopping, bought him a cell phone and clothes and pressured him into making a videotape of himself masturbating in exchange for money.
The jury concluded that the plaintiff was entitled to $250,000 in damages for pain and suffering experienced as a result of Pugh's advances. Pugh tried to avoid paying the damages by contesting the verdict and pushed the case into the appellate court.
According to a Detroit Free Press report, records in the U.S. District Court indicate that Pugh is no longer appealing the jury verdict and has begun to pay the sum of damages to the plaintiff. Pugh's reasons were not disclosed.
According to the plaintiff's lawyer, Bill Seikaly, the verdict award and settlement will go toward an educational trust that will help his client go back to school. The plaintiff, who was a chess player, track star and yearbook photographer who wanted to go to college until Pugh, ended up living on the streets for months after the scandal. The Free Press reports that Pugh began paying the plaintiff last week and a payment schedule has been arranged.
Pugh Starts Paying Damages to Former Student
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