By City News Service
Two women who alleged they were sexually abused as children by the late horse trainer Jimmy Williams have settled the remaining part of their consolidated lawsuit by reaching an agreement with the Flintridge Riding Club.
Attorneys for Gigi Gaston and retired Los Angeles Police Department Officer Julie Boyer filed court papers on Tuesday with Burbank Superior Court Judge Frank M. Tavelman notifying him of the accord. No terms were divulged.
The club is located in La Cañada Flintridge and is where Williams taught and allegedly abused many underage victims before dying in 1993. Club attorneys maintained that the plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the statute of limitations. But the plaintiffs’ lawyers said the statute of limitations was extended under the 2019 California Child Victims Act.
The resolution with the club was preceded by a November settlement between the portion of the plaintiffs’ suit against the U.S Equestrian Federation and USA Equestrian Trust Inc.
Boyer maintained that all of the defendants were negligent for not protecting her from abuse. She was a student at the club in 1974-76 and alleges Williams began to abuse her when she arrived at age 15 and continued until she departed.
Boyer has suffered mental and economic damages, her lawsuit filed in May 2021 alleged.
Gaston’s lawsuit was filed in August 2020 and stated that she was 12 years old when she began training at the club.
“Ms. Gaston [was] excited and eager to train like an Olympian at what was widely considered to be the finest equestrian training facility on the West Coast,” her court papers stated.
Williams produced national and international champion riders and it was considered an extraordinary privilege to be able to train with him, Gaston’s court papers stated.
In order to be selected for Williams’ elite coaching, however, young female riders were required to comply with his every order and endure his repeated sexual assaults, Gaston’s court papers alleged.
“If a minor athlete fought back against Williams’ sexual advances, Williams had the power to withhold the best horses and best training from that young athlete, derailing their entire equestrian career,” according to Gaston’s court papers.
The Gaston and Boyer suits were consolidated in January 2022.
First published in the January 11 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
