A South Bay highschool pupil has filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Los Angeles Unified Faculty District, alleging that she was sexually abused by an assistant coach on her basketball crew.
The Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets pupil, who will not be recognized in court docket information, alleges Juan “John” Colon started abusing her when she was 15. Neither college nor district officers did something to intervene and actively labored to cowl up Colon’s conduct, the lawsuit alleges.
An L.A. Unified spokesperson mentioned the district “doesn’t usually touch upon any and all pending or ongoing litigation issues.”
Colon was arrested in early January and charged with two counts of felony illegal sexual activity with a minor, stemming again to alleged offenses on July 1. He was additionally charged with a misdemeanor rely of annoying/molesting a minor that allegedly happened June 1.
He posted bond shortly after being taken into custody, information present, and is due again in court docket on Feb. 20. It’s not clear if he has a lawyer.
Colon, 50, “deliberately, recklessly and wantonly” dedicated undesirable sexual acts, together with participating in “sexual touching, contact and conduct with the plaintiff,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit additionally alleges that Colon harassed the woman — “grooming” her for abuse by offering monetary help after which demanding a refund, isolating and speaking along with her by social media, and confiding in her about his private life.
“This has been a really tough time for my shopper, going by the preliminary trauma and reliving this,” mentioned her lawyer, Morgan A. Stewart, a accomplice on the Irvine-based agency Manly, Stewart & Finaldi. “Now she’s struggling by the acknowledgment that she was taken benefit of and may have by no means been on the campus. It’s powerful at any age, however worse in your teenagers.”
At one level, the teenager lived with Colon for an undisclosed time and listed him as her emergency contact, her legal professionals famous.
The woman’s household grew to become conscious of the alleged abuse on Jan. 4, in keeping with the lawsuit, and the Los Angeles Police Division arrested Colon the subsequent day.
“This complete lawsuit is what I might name a rolling ball of errors with one factor after one other,” Stewart mentioned. “Nevertheless it began with this: In case you observe LAUSD’s hiring practices, he would have by no means reached a campus.”
Colon is alleged to have been employed as a coach and tutor at Westchester, although no report was discovered by Clear California, which compiles compensation information for quite a lot of public sector staff in a searchable database. The plaintiff’s attorneys additionally allege Colon was employed with no background test, which might have run afoul of L.A. Unified coverage.
“Whereas we don’t know his precise employment standing, he was clearly there at practices and at video games,” Stewart mentioned. “We don’t know if he was a walk-on or on a contract or the precise preparations.”
The district didn’t touch upon his employment standing.
The lawsuit additionally alleges that feminine college students reported “the sexual nature of habits” Colon was participating in “whereas alone with feminine minors” to highschool directors.
Colon was questioned about his actions however not reported to regulation enforcement, the lawsuit states. He was informed to “discontinue sexual habits with college students however failed to take action,” in keeping with the lawsuit.
The women’ basketball crew is about to open the quarterfinal spherical of the CIF Los Angeles Metropolis Part playoffs on Saturday, internet hosting El Camino Actual.
