A South Bay college district agreed to pay $5.75 million to settle claims {that a} trainer impregnated a 15-year-old pupil at Leigh Excessive Faculty throughout a long-running unlawful sexual relationship, after which pressured her to have an abortion.
The Campbell Union Excessive Faculty District’s payout comes practically two years after the allegations surfaced in opposition to Shawn Thomas, a bodily training and social science trainer who additionally labored as a soccer and observe coach at Los Gatos Excessive Faculty. The alleged abuse occurred through the early 2000s, and got here to gentle a long time later after the previous pupil’s sister urged her to go to authorities.
Thomas, who was arrested in March 2024, now faces quite a few felony prices, together with rape, sexual penetration of a minor and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor.
The previous pupil’s legal professional mentioned the payout represented a measure of justice for the previous pupil, now in her late 30s, and “sends a transparent message that colleges should take their responsibility to safeguard college students severely.
“After all these years, my client is finally being vindicated and the school district is finally being held accountable,” mentioned the legal professional, Lauren Cerri. “Her entire life was derailed because no one listed to her, and no one believed her.”
The lawsuit accused Thomas of grooming the woman whereas she was a freshman at Leigh Excessive Faculty, by giving her “special attention” through the 2002-2003 college yr. He was already recognized to be “overly touchy” with college students, the lawsuit claimed, and he went on to ask the woman to put on a skirt to high school and drove her round.
Their illicit relationship escalated to sexual encounters at his house, a good friend’s house, and in his classroom, the lawsuit claimed.
At one level, Thomas’ spouse — a dean on the college — practically walked in on the 2 throughout a kind of encounters in a classroom. When the scholar later alerted Sarah Thomas to her being pregnant in spring 2023, the lawsuit claims the dean responded by blaming her.
Neither Sarah Thomas nor anybody else on the college ever reported suspicions of her husband’s sexual abuse to authorities, the lawsuit mentioned. Shawn Thomas allegedly insisted that the woman get an abortion, the lawsuit claimed, which she did.
Each Shawn and Sarah Thomas have been positioned on paid administrative go away when the allegations got here to gentle in March 2024, Cerri mentioned. Their statuses on the college district weren’t instantly clear Tuesday.
The case highlighted the peril of academics or coaches being supervised by their romantic companions, as occurred on this case. Cerri careworn that such preparations by no means ought to occur, as a result of it “clearly creates a conflict of interest.”
“The safety of the children always has to come first,” Cerri mentioned.
“While nothing can undo what happened, we are grateful that the district is finally being held accountable for its failures,” the previous pupil’s sister mentioned. “Our hope is that this moment not only helps my sister move forward, but also ensures that no other student is ever ignored or unprotected in the way she was.”
Employees reporter Robert Salonga contributed to this report.
