The law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard is announcing a $1.548 million settlement resulting from sexual abuse committed by convicted wrestling coach and youth group leader Kevin Lopez. Attorney Lauren Cerri represented the victim in his lawsuit against both the San Ramon Valley Unified School District and New Life Church of Alamo.

The lawsuit alleged that one year before Lopez was arrested, the administration at California High School in the San Ramon Valley Unified School District violated mandatory reporting laws by failing to report suspected sexual abuse and by conducting its own investigation after receiving two complaints about Lopez’s sexual improprieties. The District agreed to settle the case against it for $699,000.

In the case against New Life Church of Alamo, “evidence revealed that the Church received numerous complaints about Lopez’s red flag grooming behavior and not only ignored the warning signs but also allowed Lopez to chaperone kids to camps and mission trips in California and Mexico,” said Cerri. “Lopez was seen cuddling in bed and ‘spooning’ with our client in Mexico and the Church did not report the incident. It took no action whatsoever to stop the easily preventable sexual abuse that occurred after that trip. “

The Church’s insurance company agreed to pay $849,000 to settle the case, $549,000 more than the $300,000 sexual abuse insurance coverage that its insurance policy provided. The Church also reevaluated and strengthened its child protection policies as a result of the abuse.

“Insurance companies continue to pay for the sexual abuse caused by the negligence of school districts, churches and other institutions that are failing to protect our children,” stated Cerri. “We hope to start seeing school districts and churches taking steps to develop and implement child sexual abuse prevention training rather than relying on insurance companies to pay for the tragic results,” added Cerri.

Lopez, former California High School Head Wrestling Coach and New Life Church Youth Group Leader, pleaded guilty in 2015 to eight felonies for lewd acts on boys and is serving a prison sentence of 10 years and eight months.

The San Jose law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard has represented numerous child sexual abuse victims in the Bay Area and around the country. The firm has a dedicated team of attorneys and experts working full-time for the best interests of victims. As a result, the firm routinely recovers the maximum compensation possible for their clients while at the same time forcing companies and organizations to change their policies by developing rules and guidelines which serve to protect children from sexual abuse.

Keith Woodhouse was convicted today of 30 felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14. Woodhouse was hired by Child Development Center, Inc. (CDI) to work at its day-care programs at Trace and El Rancho Elementary Schools in San Jose. While working at these locations, Woodhouse molested nine young girls.

Childhood molestation attorney Robert Allard, representing seven of the victims, issued the following statement. “The families are relieved that criminal justice has been imposed on a serial pedophile. Now we can turn our attention to repairing the damage to these children by holding accountable those organizations which allowed this to happen. Both the then-current and former employer of Woodhouse knew or should have known that he presented a grave risk to children. As a result, steps should have been taken to protect them. Instead, they were left vulnerable and unprotected and as a consequence savagely molested.”

Allard filed separate lawsuits against Child Development Centers, Inc. and Church on the Hill. The lawsuit against Child Development Centers, Inc. alleged that the state’s largest child care facility failed to supervise Keith Woodhouse as required by the law. In a lawsuit against Church on the Hill, the complaint alleged that the church provided a false and misleading recommendation for former employee Keith Woodhouse even though it knew Woodhouse had been accused of inappropriate behavior with young kids. The case against CDI was settled during trial. A jury found Church on the Hill negligent for its actions.

Attorney Robert Allard works closely with victims of childhood molestation and their families. He is dedicated to holding predators and the institutions which enable them responsible for the harm caused to young kids.