School Teacher Sexual Abuse

Charter School Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Settles for $1.2 Million

Published on: September 15, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

As students head back to school, the San Jose law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard is reminding parents about the dangers of sexual abuse by educators. back-to-school The firm is announcing a $1.2 million settlement in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against a San Jose charter school.

The case involved a high school teacher who sexually abused one of his students and a principal who was directly and expressly notified about the illegal relationship but did not notify the authorities as required by law, instead choosing to investigate himself.

The California mandatory reporting law mandates that an educator report to the authorities any time he or she entertains a reasonable suspicion of sexual abuse. That was not done here. Instead, it took a complaint from a concerned parent to trigger involvement by the police which promptly resulted in an arrest.

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Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Filed Against New Haven Unified School District

Published on: August 1, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

New Haven Unified accused of ignoring numerous sexual abuse “red flags”

The New Haven Unified School District (Alameda County Superior Court, Case #17868000) is facing a third sexual abuse lawsuit resulting from the molestation of several elementary school children by former teacher Michael Howey. Howey entered a guilty plea to sex abuse charges, including the plaintiff in this lawsuit, and is now serving a lengthy prison term for his crimes.

Michael Howey, New Haven Unified School District

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Morgan Hill Unified School District Will Pay $8.25 Million to Child Molestation Victims

Published on: May 8, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

As part of the $8.25 million settlement with three child sex abuse victims, the Morgan Hill Unified School District is also moving forward in implementing and supporting programs aimed at preventing the sexual abuse of students.

The law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard announced that the Morgan Hill Unified School District agreed to pay $8.25 million to three then-elementary school students sexually abused by former teacher John Loyd. At the same time, complying with the wishes of the victims’ parents, the district is also moving forward to carry out child sexual abuse prevention programs.

The agreement was reached as jury selection was about to start in the sexual abuse lawsuit (case #115CV285795 – Santa Clara County Superior Court) against the school district. The three children were represented by attorneys Robert Allard, Lauren Cerri, Ken Turek, and Christopher Schumb.

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Megan’s Law Loopholes

Published on: January 30, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

According to California’s Sex Offender Management Board, the number of sex offenders on the Megan’s Law website is nearly 17,000 less than than the number of registered sex offenders in the state. That’s because Megan’s Law exempts some registered sex offenders, including those convicted of sexual battery or a misdemeanor charge of annoying or molesting a child. The law also provides for exclusions of other sex offenses as long as they don’t involve “oral copulation or penetration.”

In the case of Robert Adams, he pleaded no contest to charges that he allegedly molested six girls. But by entering into a plea agreement, the felony charges were dropped in exchange for Adams pleading no contest to six counts of misdemeanor child molestation. Part of Adams’ plea agreement was that he register as a sex offender for life. Adams has reportedly registered with Folsom police as a sex offender. However, the information kept by the police is not available to the public.

When it comes to the state’s public database of sex offenders, Megan’s Law only requires registration of serious and violent sex offenders. The Megan’s Law website is intended to make the public aware of sex offenders by posting their pictures and home addresses online.

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Female Teachers Arrested for Sexually Abusing Male Students

Published on: January 24, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Two female teachers, one in Fremont and the other in San Jose, are both facing sex abuse charges alleging inappropriate sexual contact with male students.

On Thanksgiving Day 2016, Washington High School PE teacher Corine Audiat was arrested for unlawful sex acts with a minor. Corine Audiat is also known as Cory Audiat.

In early December, Trudy Hill, an English teacher at Santa Teresa High School, was arrested on charges of sending harmful matter to a minor and oral copulation with a minor. Hill is the fourth East Side Union High School District employee to be accused of sexual misconduct with a student in 2016. Hill, along with James Lick interim vice principal Juan Gonzalez, Mt. Pleasant High School assistant track coach Enoch Garcia, and Independence High School wrestling coach Marc Alquiza are all facing charges.

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John Loyd

Published on: November 2, 2016 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

John Loyd is serving a 40-year prison sentence for sexually molesting four fifth-grade girls. His victims ranged in age from 9 to 11 years old. Three of the children were molested at Paradise Valley Elementary School during a three-year period from 2012-2014. And the fourth victim was molested from 2003 to 2004.

Based on the predatory nature of the crimes that occurred we believe there may be other victims that need help.

John Loyd was born and raised in San Jose, graduating from Mt. Pleasant High School in 1980. He appears to have worked at:

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Former Los Banos teacher Gary Bettencourt Sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in Prison

Published on: September 27, 2016 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Merced County Superior Court Judge David Moranda sentenced Gary Bettencourt, former Pacheco High School drama and English teacher, to eight years and four months in prison on Friday, September 23, 2016 (Merced County criminal case number: 16CR-00639A). Bettencourt last month pleaded no contest to sexually abusing two former students more than 10 years ago and, more recently, to having sexually abused another student in 2015.

The Bettencourt case led police to also charge Dusty Norris, a former Los Banos high school teacher turned police officer with similar crimes. Norris is charged with sexually abusing one of Bettencourt’s victims.

Both Bettencourt and Norris along with the Los Banos Unified School District are named in a civil lawsuit filed by the San Jose law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard. According to attorney Robert Allard, “Bettencourt has now been held criminally responsible for what he did to these young girls. It’s now time for the school district to be held accountable for allowing Bettencourt to harm these young women in the worst of ways”.

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$15 Million Settlement for O.B. Whaley Sexual Abuse Victims

Published on: April 20, 2016 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Administrative negligence harms innocent O.B. Whaley molestation victims

This case started with a single victim. In January 2012, authorities arrested Craig Chandler on suspicion of molesting a young child at O.B. Whaley Elementary School, where he had worked as a teacher for nine years. As the investigation proceeded, it became clear that he had molested five girls going back to 2010. The jury sentenced Chandler to 75 years in prison. Moreover, O.B. Whaley’s principal, Lyn Vijayendran, who was told of Chandler’s inappropriate behavior but failed to notify police or Child Protective Services, was sentenced to six months in jail.

Attorney Robert Allard of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard led the litigation team against the Evergreen Elementary School District. By preparing an airtight case against the District, Mr. Allard’s team persuaded the District to pay $15 million to the victims for the lifelong harm they are to endure. At the same time, the settlement prevented the poor victims from having to relive their trauma in a courtroom. Allard knew that the Evergreen School District was clearly at fault—that the principal of O.B. Whaley had been previously made aware of Chandler’s inappropriate behavior with students, and had even been observed engaging in inappropriate acts by other teachers, yet the principal had taken no action. Hence the extraordinarily large amount of the settlement.

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Sexual Misconduct by Teachers Highlights Risk of Teacher-Student Texting

Published on: April 11, 2016 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Sexual misconduct risk also includes social media “friending”

Concerns about teacher-student texting are under debate in Clark County, Nevada. This after a recent spate of sexual misconduct and molestation cases.

The Las Vegas Sun examined ten years of sexual misconduct cases by county educators (2005 to 2015). They discovered that half the cases involved private electronic communication between the teacher and the victim. Furthermore, from 2010 to 2015, 80% of sexual misconduct cases involved some form of private electronic communication. This included texting, email, and so forth. As a result, predatory teachers have been using text and email to groom their victims.

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Traina Elementary School Sexual Abuse

Published on: August 8, 2013 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Darrel Golden, a fourth-grade teacher at Anthony C. Traina Elementary School in Tracy, faces child molestation charges which involve at least 12 children. Golden is reportedly charged with 33 counts of lewd acts on a child and child molestation. The alleged victims include 10 girls and two boys, ranging in age from 7 to 10 years old.

Attorney Robert Allard is familiar with molestation cases involving teachers. Mr. Allard is currently representing the parents of multiple children in a case involving convicted O.B. Whaley school teacher Craig Chandler.

In the ongoing case against O.B. Whaley School and the Evergreen Elementary School District, Mr. Allard has dug deep to uncover evidence that demonstrated that the school had advance warning of Chandler’s behavior and yet took no action. For parents who find themselves facing teachers like Darrel Golden at Tracy’s Traina Elemetary School, Mr. Allard has this advice:

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