A jury on Wednesday, Aug. 24, awarded $26 million in damages to a former Pasadena Unified School District special-education student who was sexually assaulted by three male classmates at Focus Point Academy in 2016.
The verdict in Los Angeles County Superior Court follows a 2018 lawsuit accusing the district of negligence and having dangerous conditions at the school.
Pasadena Unified School District officials did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails Wednesday seeking comment on the verdict and whether the district intends to appeal the verdict.
The plaintiff was an 11-year-old student in the special-education program for emotionally disturbed children at Focus Point when a teacher’s aide left her unsupervised on May 17, 2016, the lawsuit says.
Three male classmates dragged her behind a building. One of the attackers yelled out “It’s rape time” and the other two pinned her against a wall, and grabbed her buttocks and breasts, says the suit.
The attackers then pulled the girl’s pants down despite her pleas for them to stop and inserted their fingers and a metal paperclip into her vagina, according to the complaint.
The attackers were later charged with lewd acts with a child under 14 years of age and forcible penetration without consent of a minor with a foreign object, according to the plaintiff’s attorneys. Information was not immediately available about the adjudication of the criminal case against the juveniles.
The plaintiff was institutionalized as a result of the sexual assault.
The lawsuit claims the Pasadena Unified School District knew of the plaintiff’s special education needs but failed to warn her or her social worker of dangers from other students at Focus Point, and didn’t notify her of previous incidents at the school.
“Defendants … failed to use reasonable care so as to avoid or prevent serious injury to plaintiff,” says the suit.
At trial, lawyers for Pasadena Unified argued the girl was not entitled to monetary damages from the school district, the plaintiff’s attorneys said in a statement.
The jury ultimately disagreed, awarding the girl $12.5 million and $13.5 million, respectively, for past and future pain and suffering.
“This verdict demonstrates that all children, regardless of their disabilities, deserve to be protected,” David Rudorfer, an attorney for the plaintiff said Wednesday.
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