Church of Scientology, former member settle long lawsuit

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Church of Scientology and one of its former members have settled a lawsuit she filed nearly a decade ago alleging she was forced to work long hours as a pre-teen and was coerced to have an abortion at 17.

Judge Mark Mooney met privately Monday with attorneys for the church and plaintiff Laura Ann DeCrescenzo and then announced the settlement in court. Trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 13.

John Blumberg, an attorney for DeCrescenzo, says terms of the deal are confidential. Attorneys for Scientology didn’t return calls seeking comment.

The church was a defendant along with its Religious Technology Center. The allegations included forced abortion, false imprisonment and unfair business practices.

Blumberg says the defendants’ lawyers’ actions indicated that they didn’t want the case to go trial.