Three former Rosemead High students are suing the district for sexual abuse

The alleged sexual abuse of three Rosemead High School students between their freshman and senior years by a trio of coaches and teachers is at the center of a negligence lawsuit filed against the educators and their employer, the El Monte Union High School School District.

The plaintiffs, identified in the lawsuit only by the initials CH, DC and JL, attended Rosemead High between 2005 and 2011. They are now 31 to 33 years old.

“This is about the misdeeds of coaches and teachers and a culture of years-long cover-up of these misdeeds by administration across the district,” said Luis Carrillo, the plaintiffs’ attorney.

The plaintiffs’ names were removed from court records because they were minors at the time of the events. In addition to the school district, the lawsuit names former Rosemead High tennis coach Wing Chan, former teacher Alex Rai and former cross-country coach Eduardo Escobar as defendants.

The lawsuit, filed May 6 in LA County Superior Court in Pomona, accuses all three of unlawful sexual assault, abuse, molestation and various types of childhood misconduct.

None of the three could be reached for comment. El Monte Union Supt. Edward Zuniga or Assistant Supt. Robin Torres of human resources also responded to requests for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that Rai began grooming CH in 2008 and 2009 when she was in middle and senior high school. He also accuses him of sending her explicit photos of himself and of touching her sexually several times.

DC was 14 and 15 years old in 2008 and 2009 when her alleged abuse began as a member of the cross-county team that Escobar coached. The lawsuit accuses Escobar of pulling down DC’s shorts and touching her in a sexual manner while allegedly helping her relieve a leg cramp.

DC reported the abuse to Rai, who in turn informed the school administration. The administration conducted an investigation but did not report the child abuse to police, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit accuses Rai of groping DC on campus until she graduated in 2011 and then of having sexual relations with DC at his home a year after she graduated.

JL’s sexual harassment began in her freshman year of college and was perpetrated by Chan, according to the lawsuit. In addition to grooming JL, the lawsuit accuses Chan of having sex with her when she was a minor.

The lawsuit claims that “it was so well known on campus that Chan would have sex with JL that almost all students and faculty knew about the relationship but did nothing to stop it or prevent the abuse.” According to the lawsuit, the lewd acts occurred between 2005 and 2009.

All three plaintiffs have spoken of reduced self-esteem, anxiety, depression, feelings of helplessness, sleep disturbances and flashbacks since the alleged abuse.

“They are survivors, but they are still in recovery,” Carrillo said. “If a child is traumatized at a young age, it can often have lifelong consequences.”

The lawsuit claims the district “should have known that the perpetrators were engaging in unlawful sexual conduct with minors.” It goes on to say that the district had a duty to inform parents about the abuse, but that staff “negligently and/or intentionally suppressed, concealed or failed to disclose the information.”

The district, Carrillo said, is full of “administrators who turn a blind eye.”

To support its claims about the school’s atmosphere, the lawsuit cites Business Insider’s “The Predator’s Playground.” Journalist Matt Drange, a graduate of Rosemead High School. The 89-page report, released Oct. 3, documented cases of abuse at Rosemead High dating back to the 1980s, involving 20 educators and often resulting in minimal punishment.

“This case and the exposure of all of this is not possible without Matt Drange,” Carrillo said. “We look forward to our day in court.”