Crime

The lawsuits keep piling on as the Moraga School District is getting sued left and right over sex abuse that happened at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School in the 90s without being reported to the police by school administrators who knew of the abuse.

Now the Contra Costa Times is reporting that a third “Jane Doe” is suing the district for $10 million:

She claims the district and retired Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School Principal Bill Walters, retired Assistant Principal Paul Simonin and retired Superintendent John Cooley failed to report Witters to the proper authorities after a girl had reported sexual abuse two years earlier, and that they “lied” about their knowledge of past complaints.

This brings the total to $40 million in suits against the Moraga school district so far.

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After word got out that the Moraga School District maintained that a Joquin Moraga middle school student who was sexually abused by a teacher back in the nineties was “careless and negligent”, school district trustees apologized to the former student.

The Contra Costa Times reported that the district said:

“The governing board and its attorneys, Stubbs and Leone, apologize to Ms. Cunnane for any anxiety or distress caused by the inclusion of this defense in its response to her pleading,” he said.

This is good they did this of course, but what I found interesting is that the Moraga School District attorney that used this language also represents the Lafayette School District and used similar language in a separate sex abuse case involving a Stanley Middle School teacher and student.

The same article notes:

Lafayette school trustees met in special closed session Wednesday afternoon to discuss Jane Doe’s lawsuit, and later announced a unanimous vote to “withdraw the defense of comparative fault and any assertion of carelessness or negligence” on the part of Jane Doe.

The question that comes to mind for me is what other sex abuse cases has this attorney been involved in? Someone should review them and see what other schools need to apologize.

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Continuing its coverage of the sex abuse scandals in Moraga during the 90s, the Contra Costa Times reported over the weekend that:

“Carelessness and negligence on (Cunnane’s) part proximately contributed to the happenings of the incident and to the injuries, loss and damages,” they claim.

How on earth can anyone, let alone a school district claim that a middle school student is careless and negligent when it comes to sex abuse is beyond me. If they’re posturing in order to lower any future settlement amount I think they’re taking the wrong tack as this might make the victim less likely to settle. Maybe I’m just misunderstanding how the legal system works in terms of strategy, what am I missing here?

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The lawsuits against the Moraga School District over sex abuse cover-ups in the 90s keep piling up. Just yesterday the Contra Costa Times reported that two “Jane Does” are suing the district for $30 million. This comes on the heel of the initial lawsuit against the school district by Kristen Cunnane who was also sexually abused in the 90s as well.

The article notes that when school officials were informed of the abuse:

Instead of passing the allegations on to law enforcement, as required by law, Walters sat on the complaint for two months before showing Witters the letter — revealing the girl’s identity to her alleged abuser. Witters denied the abuse allegations.

A district memo says Walters shared the girl’s letter with vice principal Simonin, and the two administrators decided “not to pursue the issue,” according to district records.

I wonder how this will affect Moraga school finances in these times of financial difficulties. Will money raised by the PTA and local community be used to offset district money used to settle the case? Maybe they can use that in their donation plea as they attempt to persuade people to donate. “We need your help to offset money from the Moraga school district as they settle all these sex scandals from the 90s. Think of the children. Thank you.”

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From the Moraga School District:

The Moraga Police Department provided updated vehicle information regarding the Community Alert message sent yesterday, September 19, 2012.  The JM student who saw the vehicle yesterday saw the same vehicle again today at approximately 2:30 PM.  The vehicle is described as a brown or gold SUV (not a pickup as previously reported), dirty (dusty and possible not maintained) with the rear window either rolled down or broken.   If you have any information about this incident, referred to as Moraga Police Department Case Number 12-875, contact the Moraga Police Department at (925) 284-5010.

The September 19, 2012 Community Alert follows:

This afternoon at approximately 3:30 PM, a Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School student reported a suspicious person to the Moraga Police Department.  The student reported a suspicious person asked if he wanted a ride after school dismissal today.  The student answered “No” and walked away.  The suspicious person was described as a college-aged male, thin to average in build and had a short buzz-cut hair style.  The vehicle, parked across the street from JMIS on Camino Pablo Drive, was described as a brown, pick-up truck with a flat camper shell and possibly 4-doors.  If you have any information about this incident, referred to as Moraga Police Department Case Number 12-875, contact the Moraga Police Department at (925) 284-5010.

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