Mark Abramson for BI
In an August 21 letter that Zuniga sent to staff and the district’s board of trustees, he disclosed the attorney general’s investigation and instructed employees to refrain from discussing the case with anyone outside the district. The letter directs staff to preserve any documents “potentially relevant to the investigation,” including memos, emails, voicemails, diaries, text messages, and meeting minutes.
Four lawsuits and counting
In May, lawyer Michael Carrillo filed a lawsuit on behalf of three former Rosemead High students who claim that school officials have created a “toxic” culture on campus where “sexual abuse by educators is rampant.” During a press conference announcing the suit, Carrillo called on the Bureau of Children’s Justice and the US Department of Education to investigate what he described as a “systemic failure” to report child abuse within the district. Carrillo declined to comment.
Three other lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by former educators have been filed against the El Monte district in recent months. In preliminary responses, lawyers for the district have denied most of the claims, while moving to have other claims dismissed on procedural grounds. In the first case filed by Carrillo, lawyers for the district argued that because the abuse allegations involved three different educators, the claims should be separated; a superior court judge ordered the plaintiffs to amend their complaint.
In a case naming the district and special education teacher Edwin Reyes-Villegas, a former Rosemead student identified as a Jane Doe alleges that Reyes-Villegas sexually harassed and molested her when she was 17. According to the complaint — filed by lawyers at the Manly, Stewart & Finaldi law firm, which also represented 37 plaintiffs who filed sexual abuse claims against the Redlands district, resulting in settlements totaling more than $45 million — the girl, who has autism, was “especially vulnerable” to abuse by Reyes-Villegas. The complaint says that abuse occurred during and after school and included the exchange of “sexually laden communications.”
Her attorney, Jenny Louro, said she intends to file subpoenas with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to see whether the district notified state authorities after placing Reyes Villegas on paid leave a year ago. Reyes Villegas did not respond to requests for comment; records show his credential remains intact.
In another case filed by the same firm, a trio of former students who trained to join Rosemead High’s championship wrestling team sued the El Monte district and their former coach, Herbert Ortiznmonroy. The lawsuit claims that Ortizmonroy repeatedly molested the boys, one of whom joined the Rosemead team, and that district administrators failed to supervise him and enabled “a culture of sexual abuse and harassment that discouraged reporting.” Ortizmonroy, who also went by Coach Ortiz at Rosemead, was sentenced to prison in 2013 after he pleaded no contest to charges of oral copulation of a minor and committing a lewd act on a child; he remains incarcerated and did not respond to a request for comment.
An additional case that Carrillo filed in June on behalf of nine other plaintiffs, all Jane Does, alleges that “the improper handling of sexual abuse, molestation, and harassment allegations was, and is, a systemic issue” in the El Monte district.
One former Rosemead teacher named in the case, Alex Rai, had his credential revoked over “misconduct” earlier this year, records show. Rai declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Dominique Boubion, a lawyer who works with Carrillo, told BI that she is preparing to file another lawsuit against the El Monte district soon. That would bring the total number of active sexual abuse cases against the district to five.
Matt Drange graduated from Rosemead High in 2007. Contact him securely here.
Representatives of the California Bureau of Children’s Justice can be reached here.