VANCOUVER – The man who organized the Vancouver Olympics says he’s been cleared by police of sexual-abuse allegations brought by a former student, though the RCMP says the file remains open.

The allegations against John Furlong surfaced following a newspaper article published last fall, suggesting he physically and verbally abused First Nations students at Burns Lake, B.C., while teaching at a Catholic school there in the late 1960s.

This past July, Beverly Abraham and Grace West filed separate lawsuits against Furlong alleging sexual abuse, and a third lawsuit was filed last month by a man who said he, too, was sexually abused.

Furlong says in an interview with Global News that police gave him a letter in April saying they found nothing to substantiate allegations by one of the complainants, identified as Abraham in a letter to Furlong that was posted online.

But RCMP Sgt. Rob Vermeulen says the file remains open and declined to comment further because civil actions are underway.

Lawyer Jason Gratl, who represents all the plaintiffs, says the RCMP contacted Abraham two weeks ago and informed her they were wrapping up their investigation, saying they would call her back but did not. (Global News)