OAKLAND — An after-school program affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America tried to keep secret the fact it agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a sex abuse lawsuit involving a young girl.

Boy Scouts subsidiary Learning for Life, which is open to boys and girls, settled a lawsuit in August arising from an incident where a Fruitvale Elementary School student reported being restrained and sexually battered by two other students, while children were unsupervised at a playground. The family was paid $500,000, of which $200,000 was used to pay for the girl’s attorney fees, records show.

Attorneys with the Sedgwick law firm, representing Learning for Life, filed motions asking that records showing the program’s payment of $500,000 to the girl’s family be kept under seal because “the public may infer from that amount that Learning for Life is liable for damages in that amount,” adding that “the public’s interest in this particular settlement amount is low.”

But Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman ruled the attorneys had not proved that the settlement amount was “so sensitive that disclosure would harm an interest overriding the right of public access.”

Attorneys from the Sedgwick firm did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But Learning for Life’s Bay Area executive director, Sharon Rhone, issued a statement saying the after-school program takes extensive care to prevent abuse, including through a “comprehensive program of education.”

“We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and that we’ve reached a mutually agreed upon settlement. We appreciate the court’s time in the review of this matter,” Rhone said. “This behavior runs counter to everything for which Learning for Life (LFL) stands. While we can’t comment on specifics related to this agreement, we extend our sympathies to any person who has experienced abuse. … The safety of our youth participants is our top priority.”

Ironically, as a condition of the settlement, the plaintiff’s attorney, Micha Liberty, signed a nondisclosure agreement saying she would not discuss the $500,000 figure, and did not oppose Learning for Life’s motions to seal the settlement. In light of Learning for Life’s failure to get the settlement sealed, Liberty is one of the few people in the state legally restricted from mentioning the amount.

“I’m vehemently opposed to secret settlements,” Liberty said. “I think they’re bad for society, and it’s absolutely shameful when circumstances occur, like a sex assault, and the people responsible attempt to cover up bad acts that occurred. We as a society have a right to know when children are being sexually assaulted on school grounds.”

She later added that it was amusing that Learning for Life’s lawyers “failed to meet their own burden to accentuate the secret settlement they so desperately wanted.”

The allegations that led to the suit stem from a June 2013 incident when the plaintiff, who was 8 years old at the time, was pinned down by one of her peers, a boy, while two other boys simulated sex acts on her, touching her private parts and grinding against her face, according to a brief filed by the girl’s attorney.

At the time of the incident, the kids’ adult supervisor was inside attending to another matter. She became aware of the incident when two boys started banging on the window, and ran outside to stop it. It was later discovered that she had expressed concerns to her superiors about supervision at the school, according to the plaintiffs’ brief.

“In this situation, there was absolutely not a single adult on the playground during the sexual assault perpetrated against the 8-year-old girl,” Liberty said. “District policies require a 20-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio that was obviously not complied with at the time.”

Oakland Unified School District, which owns the school site where the incident took place, was initially named as a plaintiff but was not part of the settlement.

Contact Nate Gartrell at 925-779-7174 or email him at ngartrell@bayareanewsgroup.com.