Action Filed Against Schools in Claim of Molestation by Janitor

A legal claim has been filed against the San Diego Unified School District on behalf of a woman who alleges that her 6-year-old daughter was sexually molested by a janitor at the elementary school the girl attended.

The claim, filed May 9 by attorney John Clifton Elstead of Pleasanton in Alameda County, is the first step in filing a lawsuit against the school district. The mother’s name is not listed in the claim.

A criminal investigation by the San Diego Police Department is continuing, Lt. Kraig Kessler said.

The legal claim asserts that the girl, a first-grader, was sexually harassed and abused at Sequoia Elementary School in Clairemont from May, 1988, until April.

A preliminary police report has been forwarded to the district attorney’s office, but there are “some small questions and loopholes we want to resolve” before a determination is made on whether to prosecute, Kessler said.

Investigators are looking into whether the janitor may be a suspect in other crimes of this nature, “but at this point did not believe so,” Kessler said. Neither the school district nor police have received reports of other molestations at the school. The district attorney’s office is expected to reach a decision early next week.

The janitor, whose name has not been released, has been reassigned to duties that do not include contact with children, pending results of the investigation, said Beverly Foster, an assistant school superintendent.

“We are very interested in protecting the kids and the rights of the individual,” Foster said. The girl, whose name has not been released, is no longer attending the school, Foster said.

The San Diego school board has 45 days to accept or reject the claim. If no action is taken within that time, the claim is considered rejected, and the mother can sue the district.