Janitor was allegedly witnessed making students sit on his lap, escorting them to empty rooms
Students had a special relationship with the school district such that it had a duty to protect them from foreseeable risks of harm, including sexual abuse committed by a district employee, a California court said in a recent case.
A written policy of the Hesperia Unified School District – the defendant in the case of Roe, a Minor, etc. et al. v. Hesperia Unified School District – prohibited sexual harassment of students by employees. The policy required school staff witnessing such incidents to intervene to stop the harassment. The district also had training guidelines describing indicators of sexual abuse and exploitation.
The plaintiffs – first grade students who attended Maple Elementary School from August 2018 to January 2019 – sued the district and a janitor at the school who allegedly sexually abused them. The plaintiffs claimed that the janitor engaged in grooming activities intended to lure minor students, including themselves, into a false sense of security.
Some of the district’s employees, including school principals and an assistant principal, witnessed the janitor’s behavior and failed to report it as the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) and the district’s policies required, the plaintiffs claimed. These employees did nothing to prevent the janitor’s actions from recurring, the plaintiffs added.
The plaintiff’s lawsuit alleged negligence by the district...
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