A judge has approved a $1 million settlement on behalf of a 9-year-old La Verne boy who alleged he was sexually abused by a fellow student at a Glendora martial arts studio’s summer camp in 2022.
Pomona Superior Court Judge Bryant Y. Yang’s ruling on Thursday will leave the boy with about $525,500 after attorneys’ fees and other costs are deducted. The suit states that boy was 7 years old when he was abused at the Red Dragon summer camp on July 19, 2022.
The suit, brought in August 2023, alleged there was insufficient supervision of the boys. The inappropriate interactions only stopped because an older child separated them and sat between the two, according to the suit.
The Red Dragon facility was divided into two rooms, one for classroom activities and the other for martial arts training, according to the suit.
“The surveillance footage clearly displays the minors were without any adult supervision for extended periods of time,” the boy’s attorney, Erika Contreras, stated in a sworn declaration. “Further, the adult to child ratio at the facility was grossly inadequate.”
The lone Red Dragon staff member supervising children the day of the abuses admitted she did not receive mandated reporter training when she began working at Red Dragon in 2021 and did not get it until after the boy was abused, according to Contreras, who further says he emotional harm the boy suffered will negatively affect him for life.
Red Dragon attorneys disputed any liability on the part of the business, saying the owners had no prior notice or knowledge of sexual assault by the plaintiff’s alleged abuser. The lawyers also said the plaintiff never complained of inappropriate touching and that his older sister was in the room when he was allegedly molested.