MONTREAL – A judge has accepted a $1.15-million settlement between a Quebec private school and about 40 former students who say they were sexually abused by a teacher 50 years ago.

The decision came down Thursday from Quebec Superior Court Justice Kevin Downs.

The students attended Bishop’s College School in the 1950s and 1960s and say they were molested by Rev. Harold Forster, who died in 1967.

The students alleged Forster sexually abused them between 1953 and 1962 at the private school in Sherbrooke, about 150 kilometres east of Montreal.

The former students, who are now in their 60s and 70s, had initially sued the school for $15 million in damages in 2007. They finally agreed to less than 10% of that amount following three years of intense negotiations.

Each alleged victim will receive between $20,000 and $40,000, depending on the gravity of their suffering as well as the number of people who accept compensation. Bishop’s College School will also send letters of apology to each alleged victim.

One of the former students told a court hearing last month that Forster sexually assaulted and beat him when he was 14 years old. The man, now 65, suffers from post-traumatic stress and has had drug-abuse problems.