Anaheim School Board President Chastised for Remark in Sex Abuse Case

A student-rights advocate confronted the president of the Anaheim Union High School District on Thursday night, demanding an apology from him for saying that a teen may have been partially responsible for years of sexual abuse by a teacher.

Speaking at a school board meeting, Bernedette Medrano said of board President Harald G. Martin: “We ask that the Lord direct Mr. Martin to issue a public apology to the girl he slandered. . . . Blaming a schoolgirl for molestation by a teacher is morally wrong, ignorant and designed to protect molesters.”

About 15 supporters responded to Medrano’s statement with loud applause and a standing ovation. There was no discussion of the issue, however, by the board.

In August, a jury found the school district and former Cypress High School teacher Clifford Scofield, 57, liable for sexual abuse of Desiree Fritz. Scofield, once a popular science teacher and track and field coach at the school, served 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to having a four-year sexual relationship with the young woman, starting when she was 13 and a student at Lexington Junior High School. Fritz, now 19, later sued Scofield and the school district and was awarded $2.5 million in damages.

After the verdict in the civil case, Martin drew fire by expressing surprise at the size of the award and saying that “if both parties kept it secret, . . . I think there’s some culpability on the victim’s part.”

The relationship was revealed when Scofield’s love letters to Fritz were discovered by the student’s mother.

Martin said earlier this week that, because no one else knew what was going on, the student had a responsibility to speak out. “We ended up as a deep pocket for a victim of a teacher-student relationship,” he said.

In an interview before Thursday’s school board session, Martin continued to defend his position. “The facts are,” he said, “the victim isn’t completely a victim. She was a participating half.”

The board is weighing whether to appeal the jury’s decision, Martin said.

In a statement made this week through her attorney, Fritz--who attended the meeting but did not speak--said of the school board: “They still don’t get it. That’s why we went to trial. We wanted people to see what was happening and for the district to fix the problem.”