A school district in Southern California was ordered to pay $48 million in connection with the sexual molestation of six students over several years by a former elementary school teacher, a law firm announced Tuesday.
The decision against Mountain View School District in El Monte was reached by a 12-person jury on Monday, Michael S. Carrillo of Carrillo Law Firm, LLP, stated in a news release.
Jurors found the School District negligent in its supervision and employment of former teacher Joseph Baldenebro while he was working at Miramonte Elementary School.
Baldenebro was convicted of molesting six 4th and 5th-grade students on school grounds and was initially sentenced to eight years before another 12 years were added when additional victims came forward, according to the news release.
“The sexual molestations started in the late 1990s until 2017 and during all of those years, the Mountain View School District chose to ignore the warnings of various teachers and students regarding the inappropriate behavior of elementary school teacher Mr. Baldenebro,” the news release stated.
The Mountain View School District will have to pay $36,225,000.00 of the $48 million to the six victims.
Jurors reached the verdict after four weeks of trial and two days of deliberation.
The law firm stated that this was the first of two lawsuits filed against the School District for the negligent supervision and employment of Baldenebro.