Coach Sexual Abuse

Lawsuit Accuses Leigh High School Teacher of Impregnating Young Student, Forcing Abortion

Published on: April 18, 2024 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard has filed a lawsuit against the Campbell Union High School District. The lawsuit alleges that Leigh High School teacher Shawn Thomas impregnated a student in 2003 and forced her to have an abortion. Thomas was arrested last month after the former student disclosed to police that he raped her while she was his student.

Click for a copy of the lawsuit

The lawsuit states that the victim, referred to as Jane Doe, was a freshman at Leigh High in the 2002-2003 school year. Thomas allegedly began grooming her for sexual advances and assaulting her multiple times on school grounds, including in his portable classroom and a storage room in the boys’ locker room. The lawsuit claims that Thomas’s wife Sarah, who was the Dean of Leigh High at the time, discovered the victim with Thomas in his classroom after they had been having sex.

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Lawsuit Filed Against Sharks Sports & Entertainment Over Alleged Sexual Abuse of San Jose Jr. Sharks Player

Published on: March 7, 2024 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard has filed a lawsuit alleging that a San Jose Jr. Sharks hockey player suffered sexual abuse as a result of the negligence of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, LLC (SSE) and its subsidiary, Sharks Ice, LLC.

According to the lawsuit, former San Jose Jr. Sharks hockey coach Kevin Whitmer allegedly began grooming John Doe in April 2021 and subsequently subjected him to multiple instances of sexual assault when he was 12 years old. The lawsuit contends that Whitmer would reportedly take the young victim alone into the locker room at Sharks Ice, the ice-skating facility serving as the official training venue for the NHL’s San Jose Sharks.

The Jr. Sharks are an affiliate of USA Hockey, the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States.

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U.S. Tennis Association Coach Sexual Assault Case Will Be Decided by Jury

Published on: February 21, 2024 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

A Florida federal judge has ruled in favor of tennis professional Kylie McKenzie, determining that the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) failed to adequately supervise her coach, Anibal Aranda, who sexually assaulted her. The ruling opens the door to a jury trial.

U.S. District Judge Paul G. Byron, in his recent order, granted partial summary judgment, affirming that an internal USTA investigation verified Aranda’s “engagement in sexual misconduct” with McKenzie in 2018, when she was 19, and also revealed an incident involving the coach four years earlier. The USTA‘s own records documented 31 reports of sexual abuse within the sport between 2013 and 2018, indicating its awareness of the pervasive issue of sexual abuse among amateur athletes, as stated by Judge Byron.

The judge emphasized that since the USTA oversees both the training facility and coaches for athletes in its program, individuals like McKenzie depend on the organization to take reasonable measures to prevent instances of abuse during training sessions and events. McKenzie argued that the USTA shares a “special relationship” with its players, similar to the duty of care universities owe to their adult students, thus imposing an obligation to protect athletes in its training program from sexual assault — a claim the court supported.

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Lawsuit Filed Against USA Fencing Over Alleged Sexual Abuse by Former Sunnyvale Coach

Published on: February 13, 2024 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

USA Fencing finds itself embroiled in controversy as allegations of sexual abuse surface against one of its coaches. This has resulted in a lawsuit being filed by the sexual abuse law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard against USA Fencing, highlighting the critical need for robust safeguarding measures and prompt action in handling abuse allegations within sports organizations.

The issue of abuse within USA Fencing, the National Governing Body for Fencing in the United States, has been a persistent concern. Similar to many sports organizations, instances of abuse have emerged over time, prompting investigations and calls for reform.

The #MeToo movement played a pivotal role in shedding light on various forms of misconduct and abuse across different industries, including sports. In response to allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse within fencing, USA Fencing established a Safe Sport Task Force in 2019.

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School District Settles Sexual Abuse Lawsuit by former Los Gatos HS Track Star

Published on: October 20, 2022 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District has agreed to pay a former student-athlete $3.485 million for the sexual abuse she endured for more than three years.

Beginning in 1999, student “Jane Doe” was abused by Los Gatos High School Assistant Track Coach Chioke Robinson, who began grooming her to accept his sexual advances when she was a 14-year-old freshman. The grooming escalated, and Robinson began having intercourse with Jane when she was 15.

Jane’s settlement was negotiated by Cerri, Boskovich & Allard attorney Lauren Cerri.

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NWSL Sexual Misconduct Report

Published on: October 10, 2022 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

A recent independent investigation revealed that the U.S. Soccer Federation has been subjecting players to systemic acts of abuse. Following a large-scale investigation with “over 200 players, coaches, owners, and front office staff across former and current USSF personnel and NWSL clubs,” Sally Q. Yates, from the King & Spalding law firm, released a 173-page report that sought to uncover complaints of misconduct, sexual harassment and abuse.

As with previous lawsuits against large sporting organizations, the complaints dealt with players not having their complaints of misconduct taken seriously or ignored. According to the Yates report, several levels of coaches and organizational leaders “created and maintained an environment where “systemic” abuse was allowed to thrive due to a failure to act on player complaints of abuse.” As a result, players of all ages were subjected to various levels of abuse without anyone in the organization willing to help.

Moving forward, Yates hopes that this will create change within the organization and improve transparency. Yates said, “Our investigation revealed that abuse in the NWSL is not simply about one team, one coach, or one player. It is not even just about the League. Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players. The players who have come forward to tell their stories have demonstrated great courage. It’s now time that the institutions that failed them in the past listen to the players and enact the meaningful reform players deserve.”

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Marin County jury awards $10 million to survivor of Tamalpais High School sexual abuse

Published on: May 26, 2022 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

A Marin County jury ruled that the Tamalpais Union High School District was 100 percent negligent for the 2003 sexual abuse of a then-high school student by its then PE teacher and tennis coach Normandie Burgos (Marin County Superior Court, Case# CIV2001133). It awarded the student $10 million.

The student, Alexander Harrison, is now 36 years old.

His lawsuit against the Tamalpais Union High School District was filed in March 2020 by the San Jose-based law firm of Cerri, Boskovich & Allard under the auspices of AB 218, which extends the statute of limitations to allow older child sexual abuse cases to be filed through December 2022.

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Kylie McKenzie USTA Lawsuit

Published on: April 4, 2022 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Female tennis sensation Kylie McKenzie sues USTA for sexual harassment and assault committed by its coach

Federal lawsuit filed by San Jose-based Cerri, Boskovich & Allard and Florida-based Normand PLLC

ORLANDO, Fla., March 29, 2022 – A rising tennis star who was sexually assaulted by her coach has filed suit against the United States Tennis Association, claiming the organization and its player development affiliate failed to protect her from a known sexual abuser.

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Sexual abuse survivor says, ‘Bob, Lauren and Jancy are a dream team’

Published on: December 25, 2021 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

The day Allison Brown told police she had been sexually abused by her former basketball coach was life-changing for both her and Greg Marshall: he is now serving a 6-plus year sentence for repeatedly abusing Allison and she is working to recover from his abuse.

Allison was a student-athlete at Valley Christian High School in San Jose when Marshall began abusing her in the early 2000s.

In 2021, Allison hired Cerri, Boskovich & Allard to represent her in a sexual abuse lawsuit against Valley Christian, saying the school should have protected her from Marshall.

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Sexual abuse survivor Stevie Gould empowered by suing USTA

Published on: November 11, 2021 | By Cerri, Boskovich & Allard, LLP

Sexual predator Normandie Burgos, a once well-respected Northern California tennis coach, is serving a 255-year prison sentence after being found guilty in May 2020 of 60 counts of child molestation.

Some of the charges involved Stevie Gould, who was a 13- year-old tennis player when Burgos began abusing him. The abuse went on for two years.

Stevie is largely responsible for putting Burgos in prison: he secretly recorded the tennis coach admitting to having sex with a child and turned the recording over to police.

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