One year ago today (July 17, 2023) ... a man sued El Segundo Unified for alleged sexual abuse by a teacher decades ago

One year ago today (July 17, 2023) … a man sued the El Segundo Unified School District, claiming he was sexually abused by a social studies teacher more than 20 years ago when he was in middle school, including during a school-related trip the two took to Washington, D.C.

The plaintiff is identified only as John Doe 7091 in the lawsuit filed Thursday in Torrance Superior Court. He accuses him of sexual assault and harassment, negligence and negligent supervision and placement. Doe is seeking unspecified damages.

ESUSD was responsible for supervising its staff, including the teacher, and assumed responsibility for the welfare of Doe and other minors in its care, the lawsuit says.

The ESUSD released a statement on the lawsuit on Monday.

“The El Segundo Unified School District is aware of the pending lawsuit,” the statement said. “The district takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously; however, we cannot comment on the specifics of the lawsuit or related allegations because it is an ongoing legal process and involves a district employee.”

Doe attended eighth grade at El Segundo Middle School in 2000-2001 and met one of two social studies teachers in the spring of 2001 while the plaintiff was attending school assemblies in preparation for a school-sponsored trip to Washington, D.C., the lawsuit states.

Although Doe was not assigned to the teacher’s class, she “immediately showed interest in the plaintiff during these meetings” and later began corresponding with him frequently via email, the lawsuit states.

The teacher “gained plaintiff’s trust by befriending him and making him feel special,” and as her influence over Doe grew, “she began to intensify her flirtatious conversations with plaintiff,” the lawsuit states.

“She frequently told him that he was the most mature of all the students at El Segundo Middle School and frequently praised him for his intelligence,” the lawsuit states. “She also began to encourage him to engage in more explicit sexual conversations.”

The teacher also “repeatedly told the plaintiff that it was important that he never talk about the grooming or sexual assault,” the lawsuit states.

During the flight to Washington, D.C., the teacher changed the seating plan on the plane so that Doe sat next to her, and after they arrived in the nation’s capital, “she assaulted the plaintiff on at least two mornings,” the lawsuit states.

The teacher also sexually abused Doe in her classroom, in her car and in her Hermosa Beach apartment and wrote a love message in the plaintiff’s yearbook at the end of the school year, the lawsuit says.

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