‘Frugal Gourmet’ Spent Millions in Sex Case

The price tag for settling sexual abuse charges against Jeff Smith, public television’s “Frugal Gourmet,” was nearly $5 million, according to court documents.

Terms of the settlement, which were not disclosed at the time it was reached in July, were confirmed by Ed Winskill, Smith’s attorney, according to the Oregonian newspaper in Portland.

Smith agreed to the settlement just before a civil trial was to begin in July in which seven men alleged that Smith sexually molested them. Most of the men were teenage employees of his from 1973 and 1981.

Insurance companies holding personal liability policies for the Smiths and their parent corporations, The Frugal Gourmet Inc. and Frugal Gourmet Productions Inc., agreed to pay $4.75 million to halt the trial, according to court documents.

Also, the court documents show for the first time that Smith agreed to pay an eighth man $1.5 million in 1991 in exchange for silence about that man’s claims of sexual assault.

Smith has not been charged with any crime. The statute of limitations on the alleged offenses has run out. He has denied all of the accusations.