The lawsuit alleges that Valley Christian ignored Marshall’s predatory behavior towards female students, leading to the molestations of at least two female student-athletes.
San Jose, CA – Jan. 5, 2021 – The law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard is announcing the filing of a sexual abuse lawsuit against Valley Christian High School (Santa Clara County Superior Court) and its former coach, Greg Marshall.
The lawsuit alleges that Coach Marshall began sexually abusing girls on his varsity girls’ basketball team almost as soon as he was hired in the 2001-2002 school year.
According to the lawsuit, Valley Christian ignored Marshall’s repeated grooming behavior, which included excessive on-on-one time with female students during school hours, especially during lunch, transporting them alone to and from school, and inappropriate touching. On at least one occasion, Marshall was seen in an elevator on school grounds with his first known victim alone in a compromising position by the VCHS athletic director and/or other Valley Christian employees.
Allison Brown was his second victim, starting in the 2003-2004 school year. She is a named plaintiff in the complaint and one of two victims seeking to have Marshall prosecuted for his alleged crimes and hold Valley Christian accountable for enabling him. Brown came forward in 2018 as a result of finding courage from the gymnasts in the Larry Nassar case.
“Valley Christian High School had every opportunity to stop Marshall before he sexually abused my client,” attorney Robert Allard said. “Instead, the school was acutely focused on building its image and reputation through Marshall and his family, particularly in sport.”
Marshall’s three children were some of the greatest athletes to ever play in the San Francisco Bay Area and helped Valley Christian High School win numerous football and track championships.
The lawsuit alleges that Marshall sexually abused Brown multiple times a week on school grounds, including in the classroom, the weight room, and storage closets.
After the two victims graduated high school, victim number one came forward in late 2006. Police were notified. The only known action that Valley Christian took in response was to quietly and confidentially remove him from his position as a coach and teacher while continuing to allow him unfettered access to its campus.
By 2006, Marshall’s children were bringing glory to Valley Christian through their exploits as star athletes. As a result, Marshall continued training athletes on school grounds, and the school continued to refer athletes to him for off-campus training.
Despite a police sex crimes investigation, Marshall served as the Assistant Strength Coach for the San Francisco 49ers from 2007-2010 and went on to coach at Branham High School.
According to the lawsuit, in 2008, Brown’s parents provided the Athletic Director with proof that Marshall had abused their daughter, but the authorities were not called.
“By this time, Valley Christian was blinded by all of the acclaim that all three of Marshall’s children were bringing to Valley Christian in its quest to become an athletic powerhouse,” Allard said. “Child safety should never take a back seat to anything, especially when we are talking about predators and sex abuse.”
In 2018, Brown came forward and in a pre-text call, Marshall admitted to the abuse and was arrested in 2019.