Suit Charges Molestation at a Poway School

A 22-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was sexually molested by a male teacher while a student at a Poway school.

Sharon S. Barreto, 22, has filed suit against Michael Douglas Shields, who still teaches at Twin Peaks Middle School, and filed a claim against the Poway Unified School District, alleging that school administrators learned of the misconduct but failed to discipline Shields.

A sheriff’s investigation in 1985 uncovered other possible victims, including one woman who alleged that, at age 14, she was sexually molested by the teacher during the 1971-72 school year, a Sheriff’s Department report said.

But no charges were filed because the alleged victims declined to press charges, authorities said.

School administrators said they were unable to comment on personnel issues.Both the lawsuit and complaint ask for unspecified monetary damages.

Barreto, formerly Sharon Wilbourn, alleges that, in 1983, Shields befriended her while she was a student in his eighth-grade class at Twin Peaks. Shields eventually began fondling her, rubbing her shoulders and attempting to sit on her lap, the suit alleges.

In the fall of 1984, Barreto went on to Poway High School, but Shields continued to contact her, the suit alleges.

In December, 1984, he sexually assaulted her while they were alone in his classroom, she contends. In January, 1985, they drove to a secluded area where he assaulted her again, the lawsuit alleges.