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Lawyers for 19 female residents of the Baltimore public housing complex Gilmor Homes, announced an $8 million settlement on Friday as part of a class-action lawsuit.

The women were sexually harassed by employees of Baltimore’s public housing agency who demanded sex in exchange for housing repairs, over the course of 3 years.

Filed in September, the lawsuit’s purpose was “to stop the widespread sexual abuse and harassment perpetrated by maintenance men against vulnerable women living in Baltimore City public housing.”

The lawsuit further states that the Housing Authority of Baltimore City has known of the abuse for years, as the result of numerous complaints dating back to at least ten years. “Internal email communications show that the sexual harassment complaint of one of the plaintiffs made it to the desk of the Inspector General of the Housing Authority as early as December 31, 2013,” the document reads, with another sworn affidavit showing that a resident complained to housing authorities of the harassment as far back as 2006.

Another sworn affidavit from 33-year-old mother Nicole Andrea Smith shows that shortly after arriving to Gilmor Houses in 2008, Smith sought maintenance repairs on her apartment after undergoing an “inspection.” Having fled from an abusive relationship with her daughter’s father, Smith’s finances were strained despite working full-time. She describes an incident when she asked a member of the maintenance staff for repairs to which she, as a tenant of the Gilmor Houses, was entitled.

Mr. Coleman, a maintenance supervisor and employee of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City and the Department of Housing and Community Development told Smith to see him in his office. According to the affidavit sworn by Smith, “Mr. Coleman asked me to come in and close the door. It was just the two of us in the office. I said, ‘what do I have to do to get things fixed?’” at which point Coleman unseated himself from the desk and “exposed himself to [Smith]” saying “what can you do with this?”

Feeling trapped and without financial resources or recourse, Smith performed oral sex on Coleman, who in turn began performing the routine maintenance needed in Smith’s apartment. However, after some time the service ended, and her requests were again ignored by the maintenance staff. Smith put in continuous requests, one in particular for a gas leak to be fixed.

Finally, one night around 10 p.m. Coleman arrived at the apartment, but instead of fixing anything, he raped Smith. She recounts the incident, saying “I did not encourage him in any way physically or verbally. I wanted it to end as quickly as possible. I thought about my safety and the safety of my daughter to get through it.”

The next day, Coleman sent workmen to fix the gas leak.

The affidavits, sworn by 19 abused women, show a distinct pattern of sexual abuse, harassment and forced intercourse in exchange for fixes to possibly life-threatening problems in the houses.

The lawsuit alleges that “these affronts are about power and control over the most vulnerable members of society, including the poor, the young, and the disabled. In addition to satisfying their prurient sexual desires, the maintenance staff also intimidates and deters women from requesting maintenance repairs by sexually harassing them.”

As a result of the case brought against the 50 or so abusers, the lawyer representing the women Cary Hansel said "Every single abuser we could identify has been fired," at a press conference on Friday.

Despite the civil suit settlement, confirmed on Friday, no criminal charges has of yet been filed, but a criminal investigation is ongoing.

Baltimore Housing Commissioner Paul Graziano met with and toured the homes of each plaintiff and toured the homes, as mandated by the court settlement. But in a highly criticized statement, Graziano only said “Mistakes have been made here, and some of them very serious,” promising that “We are going to make sure this doesn't happen again.” Nevertheless, residents are calling for Graziano’s resignation.

But Baltimore's public housing is known for forcing residents to forgo maintenance and repairs to which they are entitled; charges of lead poisoning, vacancies, racial segregation and "widespread foreclosure and eviction" have been leveled at the city's public housing authority in the past, according to ThinkProgress.

The plaintiffs are required to be relocated into livable homes and the Housing Authority is responsible for creating new maintenance positions with increased employee oversight, as well as to cut down the over 4,000 backlogged repairs to 1,500.

While the court-imposed measures are welcome, the abusers still walk Baltimore as free men.