A well-known civil rights attorney, who won more than $200 million in settlements against the Los Angeles Unified School District in three separate sex abuse cases, says the district is trying to cover up yet another case and he wants the California Attorney General to investigate.
It was at 95th Street Elementary School in the spring of 2012 that a 12 year old girl, fifth grader, alleged that a strange man sexually assaulted her in a school bathroom.
She waited two weeks to tell her mother, but as soon as she did they reported it to the LA County Sheriffs Department. Detectives investigated and released a composite sketch of a suspect, but there were no other witnesses. School security cameras were not working and the case was deemed inactive unless further evidence came to light.
But the girl's family claims district officials spent more than $218,000 on dirty tactics to squash the investigation, further causing harm to the child.
"Their child has lost her innocence because of what happened to her and the tactics of the school district are only making it more painful for her," said family attorney Luis Carrillo.
Carrillo says the school district hired a psychiatrist to question the girl. The doctor issued an opinion that the child made up the story in a "pathological attention seeking" effort, even though another doctor with the LA County Department of Mental Health had diagnosed the child with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I know what I deal with on a daily basis with my daughter," said her mother. "When she can't sleep, she comes in my room at 2 or 3 in the morning scared."
District officials said they can't comment on the specifics of the investigation but said issued the following statement:
"As we do in every case, we have treated this student with respect, and provided highly trained and experienced professionals who are specialists in their field. We remain open to reaching a reasonable settlement with the student."
The girl's family is suing the LAUSD, claiming they were negligent in keeping the child safe. She is now 16 years old and moved to another school district.
