Unlearned lessons in school sex abuse saga

Behind L.A. Unified’s $300-million tab to settle cases runs a common thread of missed warning signs.

In the court hearing, one young man after another asserted that former Franklin High football coach Jaime Jimenez befriended them during summer practice before ninth grade, then sexually abused them.

But it’s not the allegations against Jimenez that are at the center of a lawsuit filed this month against the Los Angeles Unified School District. It’s about whether school officials once again missed — or ignored — warning signs about Jimenez that prolonged the alleged abuse.

The nation’s secondlargest school system has been plagued in recent years by a series of cases in which officials missed indications of teacher misconduct, and in some instances, continued to employ teachers who were under a cloud, or ignored or overlooked direct complaints.

The result is a trail of victimized students and massive payouts to victims and attorneys that have surpassed $300 million in just the last four years.

The district paid $40 million related to abuse at Telfair Elementary School after plaintiffs contended the district overlooked earlier molestation allegations made against a teacher. The settlement was $58 million in the case of a George De La Torre Elementary School teacher, who faced numerous accusations of touching students that the district ignored. The biggest payout — $200 million — came after revelations that the district knew of complaints dating to 1983 about a Miramonte Elementary School teacher accused of abusing numerous stu-

$200 million

Mark Berndt, Miramonte Elementary*

$58 million

Robert Pimentel, George De La Torre Elementary

$40 million

Paul Chapel, Telfair Elementary

$6.9 million

Forrest Stobbe, Queen Anne Place Elementary

$320,000

Jason Leon, Portola Middle School