Lawsuit claims boy molested preschool girl
Alleged incident in 2016 at day care center at high school
A preadolescent boy sexually molested a preschool-aged girl at a San Jose day care center located at Santa Teresa High School, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the girl and her parents.
The lawsuit seeks $17 million in damages for alleged sexual battery, gender violence, battery, assault, false imprisonment, negligence and emotional distress.
The alleged incident occurred Aug. 12, 2016, at the Santa Teresa Children’s Center at the school on Snell Avenue, the lawsuit said. Children’s center staff allowed the boy, who was not enrolled in the program, to help them rub the preschoolers’ backs to help them sleep at nap time, the lawsuit said.
During that time, the suit said, the boy
sexually molested the girl.
“It was way beyond back rubbing,” said Robert L. Mezzetti, the lawyer representing the girl, identified only as Jane Doe, and her parents. He said the boy, identified in the complaint by the pseudonym Adam Roe, was 12 years old and the girl 4 at the time, and that the young ages of the victim, and especially the alleged perpetrator, were shocking.
“I haven’t had a case that I remember even hearing about where the perpetrator — and I hate to even say that for a young kid — is that young,” Mezzetti said.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Santa Clara County Superior Court against East Side Union High School District, Santa Teresa High School, Santa Teresa Children’s Center, the boy, his parents and a day care employee who had brought the boy to the center that day.
East Side Union High School District Superintendent Chris D. Funk said Tuesday he had not seen the lawsuit or heard about the matter and could not comment.
An automated message service said the telephone number listed for Santa Teresa Children’s Center is no longer in service.
It was unclear whether the boy was criminally charged, though reports by the state Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing division indicate that police investigated and issued a report. Juvenile case records generally aren’t public. Mezzetti said his clients reported the matter to county child protection authorities.
Community Care Licensing cited Santa Teresa Children’s Center over the matter on Oct. 13, 2016. That report said licensing staff were following up on “an unusual incident received by Licensing on Aug. 15, 2016.”
Based on information gathered and a police report, “it was determined that facility staff failed to adequately supervise child(ren) in care, specifically during nap time on or about August 12, 2016 when a un-enrolled minor had inappropriate contact with a child in care,” the Community Care Licensing report said.
Licensing authorities slapped the center with a “Type A” citation, the most serious violation, which typically involves immediate health and safety risks.
The report said that “facility staff was suspended pending this investigation” and that a representative of the center “must attend a mandatory Noncompliance Conference at the San Jose Regional Office.”
It also said that “the unenrolled minor responsible for inappropriately touching a child in care is no longer allowed at the facility” and that staff there “will be trained on 100 percent active supervision, children’s personal rights and will review the center’s program policy regarding visitors.”
The children’s center’s most recent facility evaluation was April 12, according to Community Care Licensing records. There were only two children present at the time, and the inspector found no violations during the unannounced visit.
The lawsuit said that Santa Teresa High School “owned, operated, sponsored, supervised, maintained and controlled” the site of the day care center and that it did background checks for its employees. The district identifies it as among four “early learning centers” at district high schools.
The only employee of the center named in the lawsuit was Donna Walker, who it says was employed as a “registrar.” The most recent state licencing facility evaluation report identifies the center’s administrator as Jerrie Calderon and the on-site supervisor interviewed as Tersi Ndon.
Calderon and Walker could not be reached for comment.