Student who says her allegations of sexual assault at Rialto High School were ignored is filing lawsuit

A lawyer representing a 16-year-old Rialto student who claims her allegations of sexual assault by another student were ignored by school officials this week filed a lawsuit challenging the district’s handling of the incident.

According to her attorney, Michael Adler, the girl told two deputy principals at the school in November that a 17-year-old boy had sexually and verbally assaulted her. But her grievances went unheeded until last month when she broke down after a verbal confrontation with the boy in class, he said.

A teacher suggested that she report what happened to school officials, and the girl said she already had no results, according to Adler. Her mother was contacted and she called the police on February 16. An initial police report indicated that the girl had been assaulted several times over the past three months.

“As detectives investigated the allegations they learned, there were two other female students, ages 15 and 16, who were sexually assaulted by the same suspect,” the police department said in a statement. “Although one of the victims first reported the assaults to school officials in September 2021, the Rialto Police Department had not been notified as of February 16.”

Deputy principals David Shenhan Yang, 38, and Natasha Harris, 37, were each charged last month with one felony count of child abuse in circumstances or conditions that could result in serious bodily harm or death, and two counts of a commissioned reporter’s failure to report They abuse or neglect children, according to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.

Detectives issued a subpoena for the 17-year-old suspect and released him into the care of his parents pending charges, police said.

On Wednesday, Adler said he had filed a lawsuit on the girl’s behalf against the Rialto School District, a precursor to a lawsuit, over the school’s handling of sexual assault claims. The girl’s identity has not been released due to her age.

Harris allegedly tried to dismiss the claims by telling the girl, “They’re only boys,” and repeatedly asking the girl if she “said ‘no’ loud enough for him to hear,” according to the allegation.

The next day, the girl was called to Yang’s office, where a security guard and the brother of the 17-year-old boy accused of assaulting her were waiting. She was told that the boy had been harassed by other students and, according to the allegation, called a “pervert”.

“Mr. Yang and the school security guard told the plaintiff that she had to “drop the beef,” and if she didn’t, she could and/or would be suspended or expelled,” the allegation reads.

Harris later told the girl that this could all happen because of the way she dressed, the girl told authorities and her attorney.

Stephanie Olvera, the girl’s mother, said she was contacted by assistant principal Johanna Cuellar on February 16 and was told something had happened, but “it’s been investigated” and “no need to worry,” she said Claim.

“What infuriates me the most is that the assistant principal contacted me herself and told me there were no immediate concerns,” Olvera said. “I asked her many times if I had to quit my job to take care of my daughter and she said to me, ‘No, I’m a mother myself. You have nothing to worry about.’”

The assistant principal then told her to talk to her daughter at home, Olvera said, adding that she knew something was wrong because her daughter didn’t want to communicate or go out with the family.

“I mentioned her when I spoke to her on the phone [that] My daughter isn’t more than a few months old,” she said. “Is there any reason I should be worried?”

Harris and Yang are authorized reporters under California law and should have contacted law enforcement immediately after being notified of child abuse or neglect, prosecutors said.

Syeda Jafri, a spokeswoman for the Rialto Unified School District, said an internal investigation by the district is ongoing and that officials are working with authorities.

“Had there been legally correct reporting of the first incident, the second two probably wouldn’t have happened,” Adler said.

Adler said his client is still trying to come to terms with what happened to her.

“She is a strong young lady, but of course that is very stressful,” said Adler. “At school we have a social network that was somehow taken from her. And she would like to return to those relationships, but not fear and threat.”