Insurance Companies Deny Coverage in Amherst School District Sexual Abuse Case | Local News

District officials determined there was no liability coverage fund for the claim because an insurance policy for the time of the alleged abuse was with a company that was liquidated in the years 1990.

Two other cases involving Koch were settled in February and March, following mediation, according to court records. The terms and amounts of the settlement were not disclosed, but were likely covered by insurance, as there is no record that the Amherst School Board approved a settlement agreement, as is required with a payment using the district general fund.

Attorney Julia Hilliker, who is representing the district in its defense against the Child Victims Act lawsuits, declined to comment on specifics of the cases.

Attorney Paul Barr also declined to comment. Barr represented one of the plaintiffs in the two recently settled cases, a 55-year-old woman who alleged Koch offered her one-on-one sex lessons and assaulted her in 1981, when she was 14 or 15 years. In the second case, attorney Jordan Merson represented Jane Doe, who claims she was 15 when Koch began abusing her in 1983. Merson did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.

Koch, who now lives in Canisteo, began working in the district as a teacher’s aide in 1973 and served as vice principal and dean of students for several years until his retirement in 2007.