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SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Statute of Limitations 3

Understanding the Effects of Sexual Abuse

Recovery from Sexual Abuse

Boy Scouts Sexual Abuse

Rideshare Sexual Abuse

Sex Trafficking Lawsuits 3

Sexual Abuse in Care Homes 3

Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church 3

Sexual Abuse in the Church of the Nazarene

Sexual Abuse on Cruise Ships and Airlines

Sexual Abuse by Doctors 3

Sexual Abuse in the Entertainment Industry

Sexual Abuse in Foster Care Homes 3

Sexual Assault in Hotels & Motels

Sexual Abuse in Juvenile Detention Centers and Residential Treatment Facilities 3

Sexual Abuse in Other Religious Organizations 3

Sexual Assault by Police

Sexual Abuse in Psychiatric Hospitals

Sexual Abuse in Schools 3

Sexual Abuse in Spas and Massage Parlors

Sexual Abuse at Summer Camp

Sexual Abuse in Women’s Prisons 3

Sexual Abuse in Youth Sports 3

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUITS

Fighting for Survivors of Student Sexual Abuse in California Schools

When authority figures at schools abuse their power and administrators ignore red flags for sexual abuse, it’s not just a child’s trust that’s broken—it’s their future.

At California Victims Rights, we see and we fight for the individuals—the children and families—who have been failed by the institutions they trusted most. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse in a California school, you don’t have to stand alone. Contact California Victims Rights today.

FREE Consultations for Victims of Sexual Abuse

Sex Abuse Scandals in California Schools

Examples of alleged abuse, and of conditions likely to lead to abuse within California schools, include the following:

Sacramento City Unified School District (Bowling Green Chacon Language and Science Academy)

In April 2025, Enrique Rodriguez Valladares, a former third-grade teacher at Bowling Green Chacon Language and Science Academy in Sacramento, was sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually abusing students between 2017 and 2019. In March 2025, Valladares pleaded guilty to 19 counts of sexual abuse, including three counts of lewd acts with a child under 14 and 16 counts of child molestation. The students Valladares was convicted of abusing were part of a dual-immersion language school designed to help immigrant families educate their children. Survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated by Valladres alleged in lawsuits that between 2008 and 2013, the former principal of the school ignored complaints about Valladares locking students in his classroom and did nothing to investigate or stop the alleged abuse.

Mountain View School District (Miramonte Elementary School)

In April 2025, a jury awarded $48 million to six former students of the Mountain View School District who were allegedly sexually abused by their former teacher, Joseph Baldenebro, between the early 2000s and 2017 at Miramonte Elementary School . Baldenebro allegedly inappropriately touched, assaulted, or harassed his students when they were between the ages of 8 and 10. The Mountain View School District allegedly knew about the abuse as far back as the 1990s but failed to act. Baldenebro was convicted in 2018 of lewd or lascivious acts with children and sentenced to 8 years in prison. A second set of criminal charges related to child sexual abuse was filed against him in 2022 and resulted in a no-contest plea in the summer of 2024 and he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

San Bruno Park School District (El Crystal Elementary School and Allen Elementary School)

In March 2025, a lawsuit was filed against the San Bruno Park School District over claims that former elementary school teacher Jeremy Yeh sexually abused students between 2016 and 2023. According to a lawsuit filed by survivors, Yeh would use a game called “tickle time” to grope children in first and second grade. Also according to the lawsuit, administrators at El Crystal Elementary School in San Bruno allegedly ignored a student’s abuse report in 2016–2017 and allowed Yeh to continue teaching at Allen Elementary School, leading to the sexual abuse of at least 17 children at two schools. School administrators allegedly covered up abuse by Yeh, failed to report it to authorities, ignored and disciplined students who spoke out or called them liars, and took no action to prevent further abuse. In February 2025, Yeh was convicted of 17 felony counts of child molestation.

La Sierra Academy

In February 2025, former school counselor Matthew Daniel Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material and hiding a camera in a school bathroom to film students at La Sierra Academy . Johnson admitted to law enforcement officials that he had hid a pen-shaped recording device in a toilet paper holder at the bathroom located across the hall from his office at the school.

Tamalpais Union High School District (Tamalpais High School)

In December 2024, the Tamalpais Union High School District was ordered to pay $17.5 million to four former students who were allegedly sexually abused by former tennis coach Normandie Burgos in the early 2000s at Tamalpais High School . Burgos allegedly took students to a private room, undressed them, laid them on a massage table, and abused them. The earliest victim said Burgos raped and sodomized him starting in 1999. In 2019, Burgos was convicted on 60 counts of child molestation after an athlete secretly recorded him admitting to having sex with a minor. One victim testified that a school administrator once saw Burgos abusing him, but instead of intervening, the administrator made a joke and walked away.

Folsom Cordova Unified School District (Cordova High School)

In December 2024, the Folsom Cordova Unified School District was ordered to pay a family $1.7 million in damages for allegedly failing to stop a student from abusing another student and failing to report the abuse . In 2019, a complaint was filed claiming that an 18-year-old special education student repeatedly sexually and emotionally abused a 12-year-old special needs child on a bus to a summer program at Cordova High School in June 2018. A bus driver-in-training allegedly saw the older student groping the younger student but only reported the incident to the district dispatcher, not to law enforcement or Child Protective Services as they were required to do as mandated reporters under California law.

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District (Los Alisos Middle School)

In September 2024, two victims of former teacher Scott Waln, who was convicted of sexual abuse, sued the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District for allowing him to return after they reported his abuse . Waln allegedly abused an 11-year-old girl at Los Alisos Middle School, and although police investigated and removed him from the campus, he was allowed to return a year later and abused more children. The young woman whom Waln abused when she was a child said she wasn’t seen or heard by school officials and that Waln’s return to teaching, while she was still a student there, was traumatic. After Waln was permitted to return and abused more students, he was eventually arrested, convicted and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.

Alum Rock Union School District (Adelante Dual Language Academy, William Sheppard Middle School, and Ben Painter Elementary)

In June 2024, former students sued the Alum Rock Union School District for negligence in allegedly allowing former music teacher Israel Santiago to work at three San Jose schools where he allegedly abused over 30 female students . The lawsuit alleged the district hired Santiago as a music teacher despite knowing about his inappropriate behavior. In 2022, Santiago was arrested for sexually assaulting students under 12 years old at Adelante Dual Language Academy. In 2023, he was convicted of four felony counts for lewd acts on a child and nine counts of child molestation. In June 2024, more victims came forward from William Sheppard Middle School and Ben Painter Elementary, where Santiago worked in 2012–2014 before being transferred to Adelante.

Thacher School

In May 2024, a lawsuit was filed alleging an unnamed former administrator at the Thacher School sexually harassed, assaulted and raped a student on multiple occasions from 1984 to 1988 . An internal investigation accused eight former Thacher staffers by name of sexual misconduct against students, including harassment, assault and rape and eight open cases against Thacher, filed between March 2021 and May 2023, contain allegations that Thacher failed to prevent or properly respond to sexual abuse allegations.

Pomona Unified School District (Pomona High School)

In January 2024, the Pomona Unified School District was ordered to pay $35 million in damages to a woman who accused former Pomona High School coach Herman Hopson of raping her in the 1990s . In 1996, the victim allegedly witnessed male coaches and staff drinking, smoking marijuana, and giving alcohol to students during a track trip to Las Vegas. In 1997, during another track trip to Las Vegas, Hopson allegedly raped her. According to the lawsuit, the coach remained employed by the school even after she reported the assault.

Los Angeles Unified School District (Miramonte Elementary School and South East High School)

In January 2024, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) approved another $3.55 million settlement of two sexual abuse claims in addition to tens of millions paid previously for other victims at Miramonte, Los Angeles.

The lawsuits alleged that the Miramonte administration and LAUSD officials ignored multiple sexual misconduct of children dating back to the early 1980s by former teacher Mark Berndt at Miramonte Elementary School.

Berndt was accused of sexually abusing children from 2004 to 2008, including feeding them cookies laced with bodily fluids and taking photos of them with tape over their eyes and mouths.

In 2014, LAUSD agreed to pay $140 million to 81 victims allegedly abused by Berndt and another $30 million to the families of 65 students.

In 2013, Berndt pleaded guilty to 23 charges of lewd conduct upon a child and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

In April 2023, the LAUSD agreed to pay $6.5 million to a former student who sued the district and two administrators for not reporting the alleged sexual abuse of former science teacher, Jesus Salvador Saenz, at South East High School . In 2008, former school administrators Jesus Angulo and Maria Sotomayor were convicted for not reporting the 17-year-old student’s sexual abuse claims to authorities, as they are required to do under the law, after they had knowledge of the abuse. Despite public criticism, they were later promoted within the LAUSD.

Santa Barbara Unified School District (Dos Pueblos High School)

In December 2023, jurors awarded $25 million to a former Santa Barbara Unified School District student who was allegedly sexually abused by Justin Sell, a former assistant coach and security guard at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta . Sell was convicted of felony sex crimes involving multiple boys, including stalking and sexual abuse, and the school district was alleged to have repeatedly ignored warnings about him.

Moreno Valley Unified School District (Vista Heights Middle School)

In October 2023, a Riverside jury returned a $135 million verdict in favor of two former students who were repeatedly sexually abused by former middle school teacher, Thomas Lee West, in the mid-1990s after findings that the Moreno Valley Unified School District was negligent . West allegedly repeatedly sexually abused two former students in 1996 and 1997 when they were sixth graders at Vista Heights Middle School. West was convicted of committing lewd or lascivious acts with minors and sentenced to 52 years to life.

Redlands Unified School District (Redlands High School)

In September 2023, the Redlands Unified School District paid $2.25 million to settle a lawsuit involving former high school teacher Laura Whitehurst who allegedly sexually abused multiple students at Redlands High School . In August 2016, the district agreed to pay $6 million to a former student who impregnated Whitehust while she was his teacher. In 2014, Whitehurst pleaded guilty to six of 41 charges of having sex with a minor and oral copulation with someone under 18.

Pasadena Unified School District (Focus Point Academy)

In August 2022, a $26 million verdict was awarded to a former Pasadena Unified School District special education student who was sexually assaulted at Focus Point Academy . In May 2016, the 11-year-old special education student was allegedly sexually assaulted by three male classmates after a teacher’s aide left her unsupervised.

San Francisco Unified School District (Lowell High School)

In May 2025, the San Francisco Unified School District agreed to pay $1.5 million to a former student who alleged he was sexually abused by Harlen Edelman, a former teacher and counselor at Lowell High School during the 2004-2005 school year. According to the victim’s lawsuit, Edelman helped the student improve his grades just to gain his trust. Edelman reportedly abused the victim on the Lowell High School campus, including in his office and classroom. The lawsuit also alleges that another student reported that she had been sexually assaulted during the same school year by another counselor and that Edelman helped cover up for that counselor. School officials were accused of not taking proper action despite the student and the parents reporting the sexual assault. Edelman went on to teach at the SFUSD Academy – San Francisco @ McAteer and worked for the school district until he resigned in September 2013. The following year, he was arrested in a police operation in Mountain View after he reportedly posed as a 17-year-old boy on a website and tried to meet up with a minor at a park.

LK is Investigating Sexual Abuse Claims in California Schools

California Victims Rights is investigating cases of sexual abuse and assault that occurred at California schools.

You may have a potential claim if you were sexually abused in any of the following schools or districts:

We specialize in

sexual abuse lawsuits

against powerful institutions, including prisons, clergy, schools, and juvenile detention and treatment centers.

We work on contingency, which means there’s no cost to hire and no fee unless we win.

Who Can You Sue in a Sex Abuse Civil Case?

In a sex abuse civil case, the parties you might sue can vary depending on the circumstances of the abuse and the relationships involved.

Some potential parties that could be sued in a sex abuse civil case include:

Sex abuse cases can be legally complex, so it’s highly advisable to consult with experienced legal professionals who specialize in this area to understand your options and pursue the appropriate legal action. California Victims Rights, along with our team of sexual abuse lawyers, is available to provide assistance for your sexual abuse case.

Do I Have a Case?

You may have grounds to file a civil legal action if:

California Victims Rights represents survivors in civil lawsuits that aim to hold schools accountable for their failures to stop abusive teachers and staff.

As civil claims, these cases are separate from any criminal proceedings that may arise from abuse and focus instead on holding institutions liable for damages. This means you may still have a claim even if:

Recoverable Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims

In addition to providing accountability and a sense of justice, civil sex abuse lawsuits allow survivors to recover financial compensation for their damages, which may include:

California Sexual Abuse Statute of Limitations

Sexual abuse lawsuits, like other claims brought by plaintiffs who seek damages for injuries, are subject to a legal deadline known as the statute of limitations. When the statute of limitations expires, victims are not able to file claims or recover compensation.

Fortunately, California has recognized that the statute of limitations can act as a barrier to justice for sexual abuse survivors, which research has shown can take years or decades to come to terms with their abuse and the damages it had caused. As such, California passed the Child Victims Act in 2019 to extend the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits.

Under the CA Child Victims Act

Survivors sexually abused as minors can file claims until age 40 (22 years after turning 18).

Determining the statute of limitations that applies to your sexual abuse case against a California school can be challenging, which is why it is best to bring your matter to the attention of an experienced lawyer.

We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and seeking justice for survivors of sexual abuse in schools . Our experienced team is dedicated to providing legal representation and support to survivors, and we are actively investigating allegations of abuse. We are working tirelessly to ensure that survivors have access to justice and that future generations of young people are safe from harm within these institutions.

Trust California Victims Rights's Legal Team for Proven Results in Sexual Abuse and Negligence Cases

California Victims Rights LLP, a nationally recognized law firm, has built a legacy over three decades, recovering over $3 billion in sexual abuse compensation for clients. Led by award-winning sexual abuse lawyers , we specialize in representing survivors in sexual abuse across the country, taking on powerful institutions. Our top-rated trial practice handles all types of sexual abuse or negligence cases, showcasing numerous testimonials and successful case results. You can learn more about our latest sexual abuse work on our blog.

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