The mother of a year-old girl who reported being sexually assaulted by a fellow student at Carter High School in Rialto is accusing school officials of threatening to expel her daughter for reporting the abuse.
Two school officials face charges after being accused of failing to report the abuse to law enforcement. Olvera said her daughter has been traumatized by the abuse and by what she described as hostility from school administrators. You have no reason to worry. The vice principal then told her to speak with her daughter at home, Olvera said, adding that she knew something was wrong because her daughter did not want to communicate or go out with family.
The seven students were abused by their fourth-grade teacher at Hart Street Elementary in Canoga Park. He was convicted in Assistant principals David Shenhan Yang, 38, and Natasha Harris, 37, each face one felony count of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death, and two misdemeanor counts of failure of a mandated reporter to report child abuse or neglect, San Bernardino County prosecutors said Wednesday.
Harris and Yang are considered mandated reporters under California law and should have immediately contacted law enforcement after they were notified of child abuse or neglect, prosecutors said. Jail records show Yang and Harris were released from custody Thursday morning.
Bail amounts were not listed. An internal investigation by the district is ongoing, and officials are cooperating with authorities, Jafri said. She also alleged school officials threatened to expel her daughter if she kept reporting the abuse. Voters and parents say education suffered during the pandemic and, for the moment at least, their confidence in public schools is shaken, according to a poll.
