The mother of an Anaheim girl who was sexually assaulted as a six-year-old student is hoping to hold the school district accountable for negligent supervision.
According to the child sexual abuse lawsuit, a 12-year-old in the sixth grade lured Jane Doe, the pseudonym used in files, “to a secluded area” on the campus of Loara Elementary School, less than a mile from Disneyland, in February 2018 and committed “despicable” acts.
The girl, who had been attending a pre-class breakfast sponsored by the Anaheim Elementary School District (AESD) before the incident, felt threatened to remain silent about the alleged attack but six days later informed her mother.
The mother immediately contacted police, but given the age of the accused offender and secrecy surrounding the juvenile justice system, it’s not known if detectives agreed that crimes had been committed or any punishment issued.
An initial lawsuit filed in January had to be amended this month after Judge Deborah Servino agreed with the defendants that there were weaknesses in the causes of action.
It’s unclear if the newest version resolved the problems to the judge’s satisfaction.
But the mother’s attorneys maintain the school district should be held liable for the girl’s emotional scars and psychological treatments.
“AESD either knew or should have known about [other] incidents involving students that occurred on its school campuses wherein [the district] was put on notice that it had a problem with certain employees negligently carrying out the employment duties, including their duties to supervise the students,” the lawsuit states. “Prior to the incident, parents and students complained to AESD that employees were negligently carrying out their duties. . . . AESD aided, incited, ratified and/or conspired in the denial of [the victim’s] right to be free from sexual harassment by her fellow students.”
A mid-November pre-trial conference has been scheduled inside Orange County Superior Court.
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.