Featured Articles

Educator sexual abuse lawsuit filed against the Union School District and its former top administrators

Published on: January 28, 2019 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Lawsuit seeks a court order to force the District to implement proactive preventative measures to better protect students from being sexually abused by educators.

A ground breaking lawsuit filed by childhood sexual abuse lawyers Robert Allard and Lauren Cerri of the law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard alleges that top Union School District officials ignored numerous “red flag” warning signs for almost a decade that then Dartmouth Middle School teacher Samuel Neipp was grooming and sexually abusing his students.

The lawsuit seeks a court order mandating that the District implement new policies that would result in either immediate suspension without pay or termination for all personnel who violate rules or regulations designed to protect children. For example, the lawsuit is asking that all employees communicate with students using only district issued email addresses and that personal communication via phone, text or social media be prohibited. The lawsuit is also requesting that the court mandate that the District educate and train all employees, students and teachers on the grooming behavior of child predators and remove door locks from all teacher’s offices, which are located inside their classrooms.

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Stockton Swim Club Coach Arrested for Sex Crimes

Published on: January 14, 2019 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Stockton Swim Club coach Shunichi Fujishima, also known as Coach Shun, is facing child sexual abuse charges following his arrest for sexual penetration with force with a child under 14 years old, sending harmful material to a minor, oral copulation, and two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child. Meanwhile, “investigators are looking for possible additional victims,” police said in a news release. Stockton Swim Club is a member of USA Swimming, the organization responsible for competitive swimming in the United States and under investigation for failing to protect hundreds of young swimmers from coaching sexual abuse.

Stockton Swim Club parents reportedly received an email stating that Coach Shunichi Fujishima would no longer be coaching, but they were provided with no other details. In numerous cases, swim clubs or USA Swimming have tried to keep parents in the dark in an effort to protect their image or reputation.

In cases involving popular swim coaches, it is not unusual for parents to quickly come to the defense of the accused swim coach, leaving the victim and parents of the victim feeling isolated and alone. The reason is that sexual predators not only go to great lengths to earn the trust of their victims but they also work on earning the trust of the community, in this case, swim parents. This is the predatory grooming behavior.

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San Ramon Valley Unified School District and New Life Church of Alamo Agree to Settle Sexual Abuse Case for $1.548 Million

Published on: January 10, 2019 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The lawsuit was filed by the law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard on behalf of a victim of Wrestling Coach and Youth Group Leader Kevin Lopez.

The law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard is announcing a $1.548 million settlement resulting from sexual abuse committed by convicted wrestling coach and youth group leader Kevin Lopez. Attorney Lauren Cerri represented the victim in his lawsuit against both the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and New Life Church of Alamo.

The lawsuit alleged that one year before Lopez was arrested, the administration at California High School in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District violated mandatory reporting laws by failing to report suspected sexual abuse and by conducting its own investigation after receiving two complaints about Lopez’s sexual improprieties. The District agreed to settle the case against it for $699,000.

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Sex Abuse Lawsuit Claims South San Francisco Unified School District Ordered Destruction of Incriminating Evidence

Published on: October 31, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Parent submitted photos of Westborough Middle School teacher Joseph Toy with his arms around a young boy. School principal ordered shredding of photos.

The South San Francisco Unified School District is being sued by the law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard over sexual abuse allegedly committed by Westborough Middle School teacher Joseph Toy.

The lawsuit claims that, many years before Toy’s arrest, a parent caught Toy being inappropriate with a young student and photographed him with his arms around the student. The photos were turned over to Assistant Principal Barbara Bowler. Then-Principal Beth Orofina ordered Bowler to talk to Toy, shred the photos and not document the complaint.

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Youth Soccer Sex Abuse Settlement Promises to Make the Sport Safer for Children

Published on: September 18, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Two youth soccer organizations, with a major presence in the San Francisco Bay Area, are conducting background checks on coaches. This follows a record-setting $8.2 million settlement for a young girl sexually molested by her youth soccer league coach.

“This is why we represent child sex abuse victims,” said Attorney Robert Allard. “The money will provide the young victim with the means to survive the lifelong effects of childhood sexual abuse while at the same time forcing youth sports organizations to protect kids better,” added Allard.

In May of 2011, West Valley Youth Soccer League coach Emanuele Fabrizio sexually abused a 12-year-old player. After pleading no contest to the sexual abuse charges, Fabrizio is serving 15 years in prison.

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Lawsuit Charges USA Swimming Responsible for Sex Abuse of Olympian Ariana Kukors Smith

Published on: May 23, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Olympian Ariana Kukors Smith, in a lawsuit filed in California, alleges that her swim coach sexually abused her as a minor, and that the sport’s governing body covered up the abuse. Attorney Robert Allard, representing Kukors Smith, is suing USA Swimming for the abuse she alleges she suffered by her swim coach, Sean Hutchison. Mr. Allard was joined at the press conference to announce the lawsuit by legal team members attorney Ray Mendoza and sex crimes investigator Michael Leininger.

The lawsuit claims USA Swimming manipulated background check procedures as a method of covering up Hutchison’s actions and mishandled the investigation into the allegations against the swim coach.

Kukors Smith is a 2012 Olympian. Mr. Allard stated in a press conference that the goal of the lawsuit was to force USA Swimming to “accept responsibility for allowing, and in fact, enabling a known predator coach to molest for almost a decade sexually, my client Ariana Smith…”

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Palo Alto Unified School District Sexual Misconduct History

Published on: April 18, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

From Sexual Abuse to Sexual Harassment

Throughout the years, the Palo Alto Unified School District has dealt with a number of sexual misconduct issues. It has also been the target of a formal letter of adverse findings by the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights unit.

In 2013, an explosive report by the student journalists described an alleged “rape culture” at Palo Alto High School.

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USA Swimming Sex Abuse Scandal

Published on: February 20, 2018 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

An explosive report from the Orange County Register claims that a culture inside USA Swimming allowed the sexual abuse of 600 young swimmers by more than 250 coaches. Investigative reporter Scott Reid, longtime reporter of Olympic sports and one of the first to document sexual abuse inside USA Gymnastics, reports that “USA Swimming board members and coaches were aware of statutory rape cases that occurred during U.S. national team trips to major international competitions.”

The news article also states that “top USA Swimming executives, board members, top officials, and coaches acknowledge in the documents that they were aware of sexually predatory coaches for years, in some cases even decades, but did not take action against them.”

100s of USA swimmers were sexually abused for decades and the people in charge knew and ignored it, investigation finds

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Create a Neighborhood Safety Map for Halloween

Published on: October 31, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Halloween Safety Tips
When you send or take your kids out trick-or-treating tonight, create a safety map of your neighborhood by identifying which homes or apartments have registered sex offenders. There are two useful websites that every parent should appreciate.

Megan’s Law Website

The first place to start is with the Megan’s Law website. It provides information on registered sex offenders, including where they reside. The site is intended as a resource for the community to protect families. However, Megan’s Law only requires the registration of violent sex offenders.

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Educator Sexual Abuse

Published on: October 13, 2017 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The Need for Mandatory Predator Identification Training

Educator sexual abuse is a problem that could be alleviated with prevention training. Currently, the law requires school employees to receive child abuse training within the first six weeks of each school year. Educators may satisfy their training requirements at www.mandatedreporterca.com. However, the training portal fails to address the prevention of educator child sexual abuse by neglecting to provide training to identify the grooming of children.

Although the law is a good first step, much more needs to be done to prevent the type of child sexual abuse seen in both the Morgan Hill Unified School District and the Evergreen Unified School District.

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