Emeryville school district sued after guard’s sex assault arrest

A 17-year-old girl has filed a lawsuit against an Emeryville high school security guard for allegedly sexually assaulting her, as well as the district that employed him — saying they failed to take steps that could have protected her.

According to the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday morning in Alameda County Superior Court, employees at Emery High School failed to discipline or properly supervise the security guard, even after becoming aware of alleged instances of sexual misconduct with other female students.

The former security guard was named in the lawsuit as Daniel Parham, 21. He was arrested in November 2023 by Alameda Police and charged with statutory rape and for sexual assaulting the young girl on school grounds, the lawsuit detailed.

Parham, who is not in custody, was arraigned on Jan. 9 in Alameda County Superior Court. A pre-trial hearing for his case is scheduled for April 23. It is unclear how long Parham worked for the district.

Spokespersons for Emery Unified School District said in a statement that they could not comment on the lawsuit because the district had “not yet been served,” but said the district took “immediate action” to release Parham and contacted law enforcement when it was first reported that he may have had inappropriate interactions with one of their students.

The complaint identified two named defendants — Parham and the school district — but could be expanded to include other school employees who may have known about the assaults, said attorney Mark Boskovich, who is representing the victim.

The lawsuit alleges that Parham used his position of trust and authority to groom the main plaintiff as she began her senior year at Emery High School in September 2023.

Starting in the fall, Parham allegedly touched the girl’s waist, thighs, and buttocks on school grounds, giving her compliments and discussing “intimate topics” with her over electronic communications.

“After gaining (her) trust,” Parham is accused of sexually assaulting her on school grounds on at least three occasions from late October through early November. Those assaults allegedly took place behind closed or locked doors in the senior center study room, a lab room, and a gym teacher’s office, according to the lawsuit.

In those locations, Parham is accused of groping parts of her body, digitally penetrating the victim’s private areas, forcing her to orally copulate him and raping her, according to the complaint.

During one of those encounters, Parham and the victim were allegedly inside a dark locker room when a basketball coach for the high school walked in and asked Parham what he was doing. Parham had told the victim to hide, and joked to the coach that he was “masturbating and taking a nap in the office,” the lawsuit alleges.

According to the complaint, the basketball coach did not investigate any further and did not report what he had witnessed.

Later, the girl allegedly told an employee at the Emeryville Center of Community Life pool, where she worked, that she was concerned about being pregnant, and that the person who may have impregnated her was older than her and worked for the school, the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, this employee surmised that Parham was the culprit, and told the plaintiff that another female student had notified him that she had also been touched by Parham.

The lawsuit alleges that Parham may have sexually assaulted at least one other female student on school grounds.

After that disclosure, the employee allegedly reported the incident and Parham was arrested.

The lawsuit is seeking monetary damages for the “emotional pain and suffering” the victim suffered as a result of the encounters, said Boskovich.

Though the victim was not impregnated, Boskovich said his client feels “very upset and enraged” that someone could have done this to her.

“She felt like she was completely manipulated and taken advantage of,” he said.