Lawsuit Claims District At Fault For 6-Year-Old’s Sexual Assault

THERMAL- News Channel 3 has confirmed that two parentsfiled a lawsuit, this week, against the Coachella Valley Unified School District and Saul Martinez Elementary School.

Theyallege school officialsfailed toprotect a 6 year old from being sexually assaulted by another student while using a restroom on school property. The parents have remained unidentified to protect the boy’s identity.

CVUSD Superintendent Ricardo Medina tells News Channel 3, “This is a pending legal matter. We are not at liberty to discuss this, doing so would be violating the students and parent’s rights. Both sides have legal counsel involved. I don’t have any specifics about law suit, I have not seen it.

“I’m very disappointed it has come to this, we’ve been working with the parents and their legal counsel trying to resolve these issues. I’m very disappointed.”

UPDATE (02/11/10): The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department released a statement to News Channel 3 detailing their role in the investigation:

News Channel 3 will continue to track this story both on-air, and on-line.