School district blasted for saying teen consented to sex with teacher makes same claim in appeal
A California school district yanked 14 cases away from its legal counsel last year after a firestorm arose over a legal argument he made to win a civil case.
But now, on appeal of that same case, the district is making much the same argument, saying that a 14-year-old student was partially to blame for being sexually abused by a 28-year-old middle-school teacher, the Los Angeles Times’ L.A. Now blog reports.
The teacher, Elkis Hermida, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2011 after being convicted of lewd acts with a minor. However, the Los Angeles Unified School District won the civil case, persuading a jury that it had not negligently supervised Hermida because school officials acted promptly when they learned of the situation.
On appeal, the district says its trial arguments that the teen consented and that her sexual history devalued her emotional distress were irrelevant to the jury’s verdict, the newspaper reports. But the district also again says in its appellate brief that the girl concealed a voluntary sexual relationship with the teacher and “therefore thwarted the district’s ability to find out about it and stop it.”
State lawmakers responded to the uproar over the case by enacting a statute that prohibits defendants in civil sex-abuse cases involving minors from arguing that sexual activity was consensual. It was signed into law by the governor in July.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “School district wins civil case after arguing that girl, 14, could consent to sex with teacher”
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer taken off 14 cases after furor over trial claim that teen consented to sex with teacher”
