Almost 800 men and boys who claimed they were abused at a harsh US reform school where the Bermuda Government sent vulnerable children for more than 30 years are to take legal action.

The Legal Intelligencer reported last week that two Philadelphia law firms were representing a total of 785 people who planned to sue Glen Mills Schools, which was shut down last year after an inquiry found evidence of the mistreatment and abuse of children.

The report said a judge at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas agreed on June 15 to consider the claims in a single action.

The motion to consolidate the claims was filed by lawyers for the former inmates and supported by the school, which agreed that was the best way to deal with the number of plaintiffs.

The school, however, disputes the allegations.

Bermudian children were sent to Glen Mills from at least as far back as the 1980s until 2017.

The Government refused to disclose earlier this year after a public access to information request how many boys from the island had been sent to the Pennsylvania borstal or if any had complained of mistreatment.

The decision not to release the information is under review by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Two men, now in their early thirties, who were sent to Glen Mills as teenagers, toldThe Royal Gazette last year that they were beaten and humiliated by teachers.

They alleged that government officials in Bermuda knew about the brutal regime at the institution but continued to send boys there.

Information released in response to the Pati request revealed that Glen Mills received almost $1.6 million from Bermuda’s taxpayers between 2001 and 2019, including one year when it was paid about $306,000.

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