A lawsuit filed by the family of a 13-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted at a Gainesville mental health facility has been settled.

The terms of the settlement between the family of the minor, who is identified in court records by her initials, and Laurelwood Hospital, are confidential.

A judge’s order regarding the settlement was filed in Hall County Superior Court earlier this month.

Judge C. Andrew Fuller agreed that the parties could file a consent petition for compromise under seal.

The judge wrote that the petition contained “sensitive information regarding plaintiffs, one of whom is a minor, and plaintiffs’ allegations in this lawsuit.

“This court finds the risk of harm to the plaintiffs’ privacy if this information is disclosed clearly outweighs the public interest,” Fuller wrote.

Many of the filings in the lawsuit, including the initial complaint, were placed under seal.

The lawsuit stems from a November 2006 criminal case in which a 14-year-old girl was accused of dragging a 13-year-old girl into a bathroom at Laurelwood so that a 17-year-old boy could have sex with her. All three teens were patients at the Wisteria Drive facility, which provides inpatient treatment for people with mental health and substance abuse problems.

The boy, Corey Benjamin Pirkle, pleaded guilty to child molestation and statutory rape last year and was sentenced to 20 years of probation with a year under house arrest. Pirkle, who was technically an adult at the time of the incident, must also register as a sex offender.

The 14-year-old girl pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and enticing a child for indecent purposes in 2007 and was sentenced to probation and required to register as a sex offender.

Jeff Shiver, an attorney for the victim’s family, did not return several phone messages left at his office Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tom Cole, the attorney representing Northeast Georgia Health System, which operates Laurelwood, said he could not comment on the case except to confirm it had been resolved.