Six former students of a South El Monte elementary school were awarded $48 million after being sexually abused by teacher Joseph Baldenebro. The abuse occurred from the early 2000s until 2017, despite the school district's knowledge of Baldenebro's inappropriate behavior since the 1990s. During a month-long trial, lawyers presented evidence of the district’s negligence in addressing numerous warnings. Baldenebro was previously convicted of lewd acts with children and faced further charges, leading to lengthy prison sentences. The school district claims Baldenebro alone was at fault despite acknowledging oversight failures.
This school district knew about this guy - knew about this pedophile - for over 20 years. There were so many red flags - warning after warning after warning to the principals who just ignored it, who didn't do anything, and who actually covered it up.
The school district unequivocally condemns abuse of any kind and remains deeply saddened by the harm caused to our students and community.
Baldenebro was convicted in 2018 of lewd or lascivious acts with children and sentenced to 8 years in prison. A second set of criminal charges related to child sexual abuse was filed against him in 2022.
Lawyers for the students presented evidence that Mountain View School District had warnings of inappropriate behavior by Baldenebro dating to the 1990s but took no action.
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