$13M verdict reached against LAUSD for sexual abuse of 14-year-old student
Lawyers representing a young girl who was sexually abused by a special education paraprofessional in a Los Angeles school reached a $13 million verdict with LAUSD.
According to a release from California-based trial law firm Taylor & Ring, the sexual abuse began in 2014 when the ninth-grade student, referred to as Jane Doe by her attorneys, was 14 years old and involved a 19-year-old special needs assistant named Daniel Garcia, who worked at Daniel Pearl Magnet High School in Van Nuys.
Garcia was previously employed as an hourly campus aide at Cesar E. Chavez Learning Academies during the 2013-14 school year, where he began dating a 17-year-old student, a direct violation of LAUSD policies. He was reassigned to the front office and away from students as a result.
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He then began working at DPMHS despite warnings saying he was not fit for the job, attorneys said.
“Before he abused Jane, LAUSD had received notice that Garcia had dated a student at the LAUSD school he was assigned to before being transferred to DPMHS,” the firm’s release stated. “[The district] had received repeated, specific notice that Garcia was an unfit employee prior to his employment at DPMHS.”
The young girl’s attorneys say that the sexual abuse included Garcia grooming the young girl before putting his number in her phone, texting her, touching her at school, sending graphic photos of himself and more.
Garcia also drove Jane to a park in late 2014 and sexually abused her in his car and continued to harass her until September 2015, when he was transferred to Will Rogers Continuation High School.
“In September or October 2014, a 14-year-old female student reported to DPMHS Principal Deb Smith that Garcia looked at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable and unsafe,” plaintiff trial attorneys said. “In early November 2014, the same student again reported that Garcia snapped her bra strap in class. This claim was confirmed by another student who had witnessed the incident…yet no action was taken against Garcia.”
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Multiple complaints made by students in January 2015 alleged that Garcia was dating minor female students and “flirting” with young girls on campus.
“Despite this information, the principal was not concerned that Garcia was not unfit to work with students,” attorneys added.
Jane reported Garcia’s abuse for the first time on April 20, 2016, her lawyers said. He was arrested on May 3 and admitted to having sexual contact with Jane and several other LAUSD female students.
Garcia was charged with several felonies related to the abuse of Jane Doe, her lawyers said. He eventually pleaded no contest to felony statutory rape.
Attorneys noted that Garcia was rehired by the school district for the 2015-16 school year “despite all the reports and complaints,” and he continued to harass Jane before being reassigned to another LAUSD school.
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“LAUSD knew Garcia had serious boundary issues with students when they transferred Garcia from school to school,” trial attorney John Taylor said in the firm’s release. “[The district] repeatedly passed the trash and exposed thousands of students, including Jane Doe, to a dangerous, unfit employee.”
Of the $13 million reached in the verdict, the jury apportioned 80% of the fault for Jane’s damages to LAUSD.
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