A woman is suing the Montebello Unified School District, alleging she was sexually abused as a minor more than two decades ago by a math teacher who later took his own life, according to court filings obtained Friday.
The 38-year-old plaintiff is identified only as Jane Doe in the Los Angeles Superior Court negligence suit that seeks unspecified damages. An MUSD representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Wednesday.
Doe attended Montebello High School from 2000-04. Her abuser was in his 30s and served as her math teacher from the second semester of her freshman year until she graduated, the suit states.
Shah quickly showed his interest in Doe, giving her special attention, flirting with her and offering her rides in his car, the suit states.
The teacher held hands with Doe in his vehicle during her sophomore year, put a hand on one of her thighs and kept her in his classroom during recess and lunch breaks, the suit alleges.
The teacher also used a ruse of sending Doe to make copies of papers in a room next to his classroom so he could follow her, inappropriately touch her and press his body against hers, the suit states.
The teacher also bought Doe a phone between her sophomore and junior years which he used to send her ill-suited messages and engage her in indecorous conversations, the suit states.
The teacher escalated his inappropriate touching of Doe during her junior and senior years, made her touch him and he also kissed her, the complaint alleges.
In order to take Doe to a Clippers game without raising suspicion, the teacher convinced Doe to lie to her parents and tell them she won tickets to a Clippers game as part of a classroom contest, according to the suit, which further states that he held hands with her during the contest, bought her gifts and kissed her often.
The teacher’s brother, who also was an MHS teacher, never told the administration that his sibling was spending time with the plaintiff, the suit states. Other school employees who saw Doe getting out of the teacher’s car never said anything either, the suit states.
Doe reported the abuses to police years later and the teacher, later arrested and charged with sexually molesting the girl, subsequently committed suicide, the suit states.