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Second woman alleges sex abuse by Calif. teacher in YouTube case

Posted at 12:52 PM, Jan 24, 2014
and last updated 2014-01-24 12:52:57-05

(CNN) — A second woman in Southern California is alleging sexual abuse by a teacher who resigned last week after being confronted by another alleged female victim on a YouTube video, she said Thursday.

The second alleged victim filed a complaint this week accusing the Val Verde Unified School District of negligence when the girl, then a 14-year-old middle schooler, was allegedly sexually abused by the teacher during the 2009-2010 school year, the complaint said.

The woman, who appeared at a press conference with her attorney on Thursday, is now 18 years old. [READ MORE: Click here for KTLA’s coverage]

“This should have never happened, and I don’t wish this upon anybody. My mother was the first victim by convincing my mother that she would do great in my life, and she turned my thinking that, that all I need was her,” the woman told reporters.

“There was a lot of manipulation in the time. This should (have) never happened if the district would (have) done their job,” she added.

The claim seeks unspecified monetary damages and charges that the school district “knew about (the teacher’s) propensity to sexually abuse and/or sexually harass students before the claimant was injured and damaged by being sexually molested.”

Officials with the school district, based in Perris, about 65 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, declined to comment on the allegations.

“We are not making any comments but we did receive a claim. We are cooperating with authorities,” said Chris Wynn, chief of security.

The girl has also filed a complaint against the nearby Riverside Unified School District for “negligently” providing “positive information” about the teacher when she applied for a job with Val Verde. The teacher once worked for the Riverside school system.

Riverside school officials acknowledged the claim.

“We did receive the claim, but we are not commenting,” said spokeswoman Jacquie Paul.

The teacher has not responded to CNN’s phone and e-mail requests for comment.

The educator resigned Friday from her most recent job as an administrator with the Alhambra Unified School District after a woman, now 28, posted a YouTube video in which she accused the educator of abusing her at age 12.

The video features the alleged victim on camera and the teacher’s voice on a phone. In the video, the teacher can be heard acknowledging the abuse.

In that case, police have launched an investigation, but the statute of limitations may be an issue, Riverside Police Lt. Guy Toussaint said. It all depends on what the investigation reveals and what crimes may have occurred.

On Thursday, the Riverside Police Department confirmed a second alleged victim in its investigation into the educator.

“On January 17, RPD started our initial investigation from the YouTube video. During the investigation during some point a second victim came forward and the detectives are now looking into the second victim’s allegations. And at this point it’s an ongoing investigation,” said Lt. Val Graham of Riverside Police Department.

The alleged second victim’s attorney, Luis A. Carrillo of South Pasadena, said he and the girl will speak with Riverside police on Friday to file a formal complaint about the alleged sexual abuse.

“We are cooperating with the investigation and that’s why she can’t speak about the details about what happened,” Carrillo said. “Something good has to come out of something bad, and that’s why we want changes, positive changes in the law.”

The first alleged victim said the abuse took place “off and on” between the ages of 12 and 18. She said she didn’t come forward as a teenager because the teacher had brainwashed her.

“She told me that my family didn’t love me. She told me that nobody cared about me and that she was the only one that loved me and the only one that was there for me,” she said. “She made me believe that she was my only friend, and that I could trust her.”

She said she didn’t want a physical relationship, but the teacher threatened her multiple times.

“She said that she would kill herself if I ever left. And I believed that,” she said.