William S. Hart Union High School District officials Thursday confirmed the district settled all three of its cases related to the Child Victims Act, a 2020 law allowing those sexually abused as children a new “look-back” window to file claims against their abusers.
The three settlements totaled $6,099,999, with the bulk of the funds being paid by the district’s insurance policy.
“We take allegations of harm against any student, current or former, seriously. We have been deeply troubled to learn, through service of lawsuits in recent years, that former students were allegedly subjected to sexual abuse and harassment in the 1970s and 1980s by former employees,” wrote Debbie Dunn, communications coordinator for the Hart district, in a statement Thursday on behalf of the district. “While there is no way a settlement can erase any pain or suffering, we hope these agreements will bring some closure.“
The news comes as Los Angeles County recently announced its largest-ever settlement, which also was in connection with claims made viable by the law.
The Hart district’s largest settlement was related to an Arroyo Seco boy who experienced continual sexual abuse in 1985 at the hands of Marguerite Lagnado, who later was convicted of child sexual abuse for the incident.
The boy was a 14-year-old eighth-grade special education student of Lagnado’s. He reported that she would give him rides home from school when the abuse would occur. He reported more than 50 incidents, which happened over the course of a year.
Lagnado is 82, according to her Megan’s Law page, which lists her as having an old Santa Barbara location in violation of the state law for sex offender registration.
The victim in that case was 52 when the complaint was filed April 26, 2022, according to court records.
In the settlement, the district agreed to pay out $4.9 million, with the district’s share determined to be $220,000, per district officials. The case was dismissed April 1.
The district also reached a $999,999.99 settlement with a woman who alleged she was assaulted by a Saugus High School band director in the spring of 1980, and the school’s administration at the time convinced her to stay quiet.
The attorney for the plaintiff, identified in her complaint as C.C., filed a request for dismissal Tuesday, following a notice of settlement filed in February, according to court records available online at the L.A. County Superior Court website.
The plaintiff’s attorney did not respond to multiple attempts to request comment for this story.
Hart district officials confirmed this week the lion’s share of the settlement, $950,000, would be paid by the district’s insurance coverage. The district’s share was $49,999.99.
“The Hart district takes allegations of harm against its current and former students very seriously,” according to a statement sent Wednesday by Debbie Dunn, director of communications for the Hart district. “The district was troubled to learn, through service of a lawsuit in 2023, that a former student was allegedly subjected to sexual abuse and harassment during the 1980-81 school year by a former employee. While there is no way a settlement can erase any pain or suffering, we hope this agreement will bring some closure.”
A default judgment was entered against the cross-defendant, identified in court records as Jeffrey W. Plum on June 11, according to the minute order of an Aug. 6 hearing.
The original complaint alleged that C.C. was a student in Plum’s jazz band, marching band and orchestra classes, where he groomed her through an abusive and overly personal relationship, with occasional unwanted touching and having students stay after class for “special sessions.”
During one such session, according to the complaint, Plum exposed himself to the victim in a soundproof band room, where he dragged her to the floor.
The victim resisted, per the allegation, while Plum groped her and pulled her pants off. The victim screamed and repeatedly told the suspect to stop, according to the complaint. The assault was stopped only when C.C.’s boyfriend realized the two were locked inside and began banging on the door.
The following day, the plaintiff and her boyfriend reported the incident to school officials, according to the complaint.
The counselor brought the issue to the administration, and the complaint states that administrators indicated a knowledge of past abuse by Plum. However, school officials also told her they thought the situation would look bad “and that people would believe she encouraged it,” so she was instructed to not tell anyone, including her parents, according to the complaint.
The complaint was filed as a result of the law also known as Assembly Bill 218, which was approved in 2019 and took effect the following year.
This law increased the time limit for commencing an action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault to 22 years from the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority or within five years of the date the plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered that the psychological injury or illness occurring after the age of majority was caused by sexual assault, whichever is later.
The initial claim was filed in October 2022, which the district rejected two months later. The district was served with the lawsuit in January 2023
The third lawsuit involved alleged that “manipulative and abusive behavior occurred on several occasions throughout the 1975-77 school years” when the victim was 15 to 17 years old, according to a complaint filed Nov. 4, 2022.
The assaults occurred on the Canyon High School campus, according to the complaint. In recounting one incident, the victim alleged a teacher drugged her in the high school’s locker room, then abused her, photographed the abuse and shared the photos with students.
Dunn also shared a report from the state Department of Education’s Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team from the end of January, which discussed the implications the lawsuits have had on school districts throughout the state.
“AB 218 and related laws have had a massive fiscal impact on California’s public agencies,” according to the report. “The insurance landscape is deeply destabilized.
The state must act to provide funding mechanisms, prevent insolvency, and promote prevention and healing.
