The Horace Mann School, one of New York City's most prestigious private schools, has apologized for more than three decades of sexual abuse perpetrated by some of its teachers and administrators, according to a letter posted on its website Friday.

"We sincerely apologize for the harm that was caused by the teachers and administrators who abused anyone during their years at Horace Mann School," wrote Board Chairman Steven Friedman and Head of School Thomas Kelly in the three-page letter. "These unconscionable betrayals of trust never should have happened."

The Bronx district attorney's office and the New York Police Department launched an investigation into allegations of abuse at the school after a New York Times Magazine article last summer that said the academy was plagued by teachers who sexually abused children in the 1970s.

Friday's letter apologizes for abuse by former teachers and administrators between 1962 and 1996.

In April, prosecutors said that while there was a systemic pattern of suspected sexual abuse at the Bronx school, the statute of limitations to prosecute them has expired.

In the letter Friday, Friedman and Kelly said the school had hired a private mediation firm which presented the board of trustees with impact statements from 31 individuals who described their abuse. They said settlements have been reached with "the great majority" of those individuals.

Additionally, Friedman and Kelly said the school's board would eliminate a board position of trustee emeritus and create an advisory board on student safety, which may include a victim of sexual abuse.

Department of Justice lawyers filed court papers Friday again asking a federal appeals court to delay lifting age restrictions and prescription requirements on an emergency contraceptive popularly known as the morning-after pill.

The papers seek to delay implementation of a judge's April 5 ruling lifting restrictions on the drugs, including the medications sold under the brand name Plan B, setting the stage for another court showdown between President Obama's administration and women's health activists over access to the contraceptive.

Currently, only people age 17 or older can buy the contraceptive without a prescription, although the Food and Drug Administration announced in late April that it would begin allowing one newer version of the drug, Plan B One-Step, to be sold over the counter to people as young as 15 as long as they present photo ID.

That accommodation only further agitated U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman, who in his opinion on April 5 said that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius had wrongly let politics trump science when she overruled an FDA decision in 2011 that emergency contraception based on the hormone levonorgestrel could be sold safely to people of all ages without a prescription.

In a follow-up ruling, the judge said that the contraceptive "would be among the safest drugs available to children and adults on any drugstore shelf." He called the FDA's deal to allow some over-the-counter sales of Plan B One-Step a "sweetheart agreement" for the medication's manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals.

He noted that it would continue to restrict access to cheaper brands of the drug and be a hardship to the many young people who don't have driver's licenses.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, in New York, is scheduled to begin considering on Tuesday whether to allow the judge's ruling to take effect immediately or delay it while further appeals are pending.

The Department of Justice, in its motion for a stay, argued that the judge overstepped his authority in ordering the drugs to be made available. It also said that maintaining the status quo while the case is on appeal would prevent market confusion over the status of the drugs.

Lawyers for a group of women and parents who have sued to broaden access to the contraceptives said in court papers that any further delay in their availability would harm "countless" women by leaving obstructions in place.

While the case is ostensibly about rules limiting the access of teenagers to the drug, it has a practical impact on older women as well because the age restrictions mean that the contraceptives must be kept behind locked pharmacy counters and therefore aren't always available in the emergencies for which they are intended.

The drugs can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of sex, but they are more effective the sooner they are taken.

A former Texas prosecutor and one-time candidate for Congress was convicted Friday of accepting bribes in exchange for court favors, including an $80,000 payment in a scheme that allowed a convicted murder to escape.

Jurors convicted former Cameron County District Attorney Armanda Villalobos on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges. They acquitted him on two extortion charges.

Villalobos is the highest-profile target to stand trial in an FBI investigation into legal corruption in Cameron County. The former prosecutor was accused of taking more than $100,000 in bribes from attorneys.

Villalobos denied any wrongdoing and testified during his trial that he did not request money from lawyers in exchange for appointments with him.

Among the allegations were that Villalobos participated in a scheme involving Amit Livingston, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend, Hermila Hernandez, in 2007. Prosecutors alleged former state District Judge Abel Lima agreed to work with Villalobos and Villalobos' former law partner, Eddie Lucio, in criminal and civil cases involving Livingston. The trio's target was the $500,000 bond put up for Livingston's release before trial.

Federal prosecutors alleged Villalobos set up Lucio to represent Hernandez's three children in their lawsuit against Livingston, and the criminal and civil cases both landed in Limas' courtroom. In the criminal case, Limas agreed to convict and sentence Livingston on the same day, thereby freeing up his bond to be used as the settlement in the civil suit.

However, Limas also agreed that day to Livingston's request that he would have 60 days to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison. That meant Livingston was released without bond — highly unusual for a convicted killer already sentenced to decades in prison. Livingston didn't report to prison as scheduled and hasn't been seen since.

Lucio received $200,000 in attorney's fees for handling the civil case. Prosecutors said he kicked $80,000 back to Villalobos and together they gave about $10,000 to Limas to keep quiet. Lucio also faces charges in the case. Lima, who was one of the main witnesses at Villalobos' trial, pleaded guilty to racketeering and awaits sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wynne told jurors in his opening statement that the cash payments Villalobos accepted from attorneys in exchange for his prosecutorial discretion amounted to "having a district attorney on retainer."

"You pay him in advance so when you need him, he's there," Wynne told jurors at the federal courthouse in Brownsville.

Prosecutors allege the activity took place from October 2006 through May 3, 2012. Villalobos, a two-term district attorney, served from 2005 through the end of 2012. He ran for Congress last year, losing in the Democratic primary.

Villalobos remains free on bond. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the seven counts on which he was convicted. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 26.

Three men accused of fatally stabbing five people at a Denver bar that authorities say was set on fire to cover up the killings have pleaded not guilty.

Dexter Lewis and brothers Joseph and Lynell Hill each face multiple counts, including first-degree murder, felony murder, robbery and arson stemming from the attack last October. They pleaded not guilty Friday.

Prosecutors have until July 26 to decide whether to seek the death penalty.

Investigators allege the men went to Fero's Bar & Grill intent on robbery. They were arrested after an informant for the federal government in another case told authorities he was with the men during at least part of the attack. A defense lawyer in the case has questioned the informant's credibility.

The engineer of the commuter train that derailed last week in Connecticut observed an "unusual condition" on the track before the wreck, federal officials said Friday without explaining what the condition was, though they did say repair work was done last month in the area of the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board has previously ruled out foul play but it has not yet determined a cause of the May 17 crash that injured more than 70 people and disrupted service for days on the railroad used by tens of thousands of commuters north of New York City.

But the NTSB did say Friday that a joint bar, used to hold two sections of rail together, had been cracked and repaired last month and that rail sections in the area of the derailment have been shipped to Washington for further examination. Adam Lisberg, an Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman, said the joint bar was replaced.

Metro-North railroad is conducting an inspection and inventory of all the joint bars on its main tracks, NTSB said.

The eastbound train from New York City derailed during evening rush hour in Bridgeport, came to a stop and was struck about 20 seconds later by a westbound train, NTSB said. The westbound engineer applied the emergency brakes before striking the eastbound train, NTSB said.

The eastbound engineer told investigators he saw an unusual condition on the track as he approached the area, NTSB said.

It's not clear what caused the crash but repair work done in the area weeks before it may have weakened the track, George Cahill, an attorney representing six Metro-North workers injured in the crash, said this week. He also expressed concern that wheels on the new trains were too tight.

NTSB said it has completed the on-scene phase of the investigation and will now analyze the information gathered. Investigators have collected photos, video and other evidence, completed mechanical inspections of the rail cars, the track and signal system, interviewed employees, witnesses and first responders and documented the accident site, NTSB said.

Attorneys for a 65-year-old woman injured in the crash said they have filed a lawsuit alleging negligence by Metro-North.

Attorney Joel Faxon said the suit was filed Friday in federal court in Bridgeport to gain access to witnesses and allow victims and their families to be involved in the investigation. He said it was the first federal lawsuit stemming from crash.

He said his client, Elizabeth Sorensen of Bridgeport, remains in critical condition with a brain injury and multiple bone fractures.

A Metro-North spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.