The Claremont Unified School District and a female former cafeteria worker were sued Wednesday by a onetime student who alleges the employee sexually abused him when he was 16 years old.
The plaintiff, now 19, is identified in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit only as John SE Doe. He seeks unspecified damages from the district and Vanessa Antonia Tinoco in the lawsuit, which alleges negligence, sexual harassment, assault and battery, gender violence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
A district representative could not be immediately reached for comment.
The plaintiff met Tinoco in January 2014 when she supervised him in a special education program in which he assisted in preparing lunches at Claremont High School, the suit states.
“Tinoco ... deliberately targeted plaintiff after determining that he would be vulnerable to her sexual predation,” the suit states.
Tinoco talked with the student about her marriage and children, sent him graphic photos of herself and eventually escalated her conduct to sexual activity with him, some of it on campus, the suit alleges.
Tinoco's relationship with the student was not a secret, the suit states.
News
Top news of the day
“Indeed, other cafeteria employees joined the plaintiff and Tinoco at various activities off campus,” the suit states. “Tinoco would regularly drive the plaintiff to and from campus, walking together to her car parked in the staff parking lot directly in front of the administrative offices.”
Claremont police arrested Tinoco in October 2014. Tinoco, then 33, resigned from the district in February 2015.
The Pomona resident plead no contest to unlawful sexual intercourse in a plea bargain with the District Attorney's Office and was sentenced by Pomona Superior Court Commissioner Wade Olsen to three years formal probation and a year in jail. She also was ordered to register as a sex offender.
