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
In representing a young sexual abuse victim, our lawsuit alleges that the named entities failed to properly supervise convicted child molester Ronald Guinto. As a result, a then ten-year-old Boy Scout was sexually abused.
The lawsuit claims that in March of 2008, Ronald Guinto contacted the SVMBC and asked if he could volunteer with a Boy Scout pack near his San Jose home. Despite no history with the Boy Scouts nor any wilderness training experience, Guinto was able to obtain a volunteer position with a group of 9 to 11-year-old boys. Within a few months, Guinto achieved a leadership position as Webelos Den Leader for Pack 220. That position gave him the ability to plan and carry out overnight campouts and outdoor activities.
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.
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.
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.
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:
There will be no more hiding behind arbitrary time limits, also known as statutes of limitations, for predators who commit sex abuse crimes in California. The Governor signed SB 813, which amends the penal code so that the following sex abuse crimes have no time limits to prosecute:
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”.
An Orange County, California jury awarded former Olympic swimming hopeful and USA Swimming National Team member Dagny Knutson $617,810 for the financial and emotional harm caused by her former attorney, Richard Foster. Knutson trusted Foster with her swimming career when she retained him in late 2010, but the aquatics insider instead defrauded Knutson.
The Knutson legal team featured attorneys Robert Allard, Jonathan Little, Mark Boskovich and Laura Liccardo.
“Dagny was used, abused, manipulated and betrayed by a powerful group of aquatic insiders,” said Allard. “This is full vindication for her. After what she has been through and what she has lost, she deserves it.”
Despite recent stories of USA Swimming coaching sex abuse, swimming is one of the most popular Olympic sports, and the success of famous athletes such as Michael Phelps and Missy Franklin inspires children across the nation to start swim lessons with USA Swimming Clubs, YMCA programs, or municipal summer recreation pools. All too frequently, however, coaches abuse their close relationships with young athletes, and take sexual advantage of them. The problem of coaching sex abuse is worsened when the supervising organization, rather than taking steps to protect the victim and any other children under its care, tries to preserve its reputation by covering up the actions of the coach turned predator.
One of the biggest coaching sex abuse scandals in youth athletics in recent years continues to involve USA Swimming. So far, over a hundred coaches working for USA Swimming’s member clubs have been permanently banned from the sport for molesting, groping, and secretly filming the young athletes under their care.
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