The work of sexual abuse survivors who sued the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis is not over.
Settlements in nine remaining lawsuits were announced Friday morning by attorney Jeff Anderson of Anderson and Associates.
"We are gratified that the litigation has come an end through a resolution made with the Children's Theatre," Anderson said.
In total, 17 lawsuits cited more than 20 former employees of the Children's Theatre in the abuse, including founder John Clark Donahue who died in March.
Laura Stearns is one of the sexual abuse survivors who says she was abused as a teen at the CTC. Stearns' case was the only one that was settle in court. She says the settlements are just the beginning.
"The statue of limitations on sexual crimes must be eliminated as well as the option for the motion of taxation of costs in crimes against sexual assault survivors," Stearns said. "It is hard enough to break the silence and speak the truth about sexual assault without risking the financial ruin without doing so."
Stearns plans to address the legislature about ending the statute of limitations on sexual crimes.
Jina Penn-Tracy is another survivor who says she was abused as a teen at the CTC. She spoke out against how the abuse was handled from the beginning.
"The CTC of today would not exist if I had not have been brutally silenced in 1984," Penn-Tracy said. "It would not exist if the BCA had done a better job of working with traumatized and deeply groomed victims."
Terms of the settlements were not reached. The Children's Theatre Company will spend $500,000 on a survivors' fund and the theater's managing director, Kimberly Motes, says they're adding sexual assault survivors to their board.
"On behalf of absolutely everyone now at Children's Theatre Company I want to say how appalled and deeply, deeply sorry we are for what happened to these former students and that this abuse every occurred," Motes said.
Motes apologized for the lack of punishment dealt to the abusers and apologized to the victims for having to sit in silence.
Stearns announced she would lift her boycott on the CTC as a way to move forward as a demonstration of faith.
"I'm willing to move forward with CTC in this process of mending bridges," Stearns said.
The lawsuits were brought forward after Minnesota created the Child Victim Act in 2013 suspended the statute of limitations in cases of child sex abuse.