Redlands district to pay $505,000 to settle lawsuit in abuse case

The Redlands Unified School District will keep a high school teacher on the payroll until June and pay a $505,000 settlement to a student who said in a lawsuit that she was sexually abused by the educator.

The school board agreed to pay the former Redlands East Valley High School student to settle a lawsuit alleging that teacher Megan Kelly preyed on and sexually abused her, and that the district ignored obvious signs of inappropriate contact.

As part of the deal, the district must keep Kelly — who has been on paid leave for 2 1/2 years — on the payroll until June, when she will be required to resign and will be ineligible to reapply to work at the district.

As a party to the lawsuit, Kelly had to sign off on the settlement.

Neither Kelly nor the district admitted any liability, according to the settlement documents obtained by The Times under the state Public Records Act.

Kelly, 32, was not charged when prosecutors reviewed the case in 2011. The student, a 2009 graduate, is not being identified because of the nature of the allegations.

“You don’t pay half a million dollars because nothing happened,” said John Manly, the student’s attorney, who also said the district ignored repeated warning signs about Kelly’s behavior.

“Quite frankly, the agreement to pay her for another year shows the district is either completely ignorant of the devastating impact of child sexual abuse or they don’t care,” Manly said.

This is not the first time a teacher in the district has been accused of sex abuse. Laura Whitehurst, 28, was sentenced in July to a year in jail for having sex with three of her students, one of whom fathered her child. Manly’s law firm is preparing a lawsuit on behalf of one of Whitehurst’s victims.

Redlands School Board President Donna West said in a statement that the district denied all allegations in the Kelly case but that ending the litigation “is the right thing to do for our district, our students and taxpayers.”

West said the cost of a trial would have been far greater. “This has been a trying experience for many people in the district,” she said.

The school district’s attorney signed off on the settlement Nov. 30.

Kelly, 32, has denied the accusations, and her attorney said she is being falsely accused, pointing out that allegations weren’t reported until two years after the alleged abuse.

According to the lawsuit, the teacher, who also was a career counselor and coach, began driving the girl after high school soccer practices, excusing her from school and spending long hours with her.

The suit alleged that what began as “sexual talk and innuendo” escalated to sexual activity, much of which, it said, occurred at Kelly’s Yucaipa home.

San Bernardino County prosecutors declined to charge Kelly, citing insufficient evidence, and noted that the case was “difficult” because the alleged victim had taken two years to report it.

richard.winton@latimes.com