A lawsuit has been filed against the Los Angeles Unified School District on behalf of three elementary school girls, alleging that they were sexually abused by a former teacher’s aide on campus in North Hollywood.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to pay $19.9 million in a settlement over a former teacher’s aide who was accused of sexually abusing at least half a dozen children at an elementary school in North Hollywood, attorneys for the children’s families said Thursday.
Lino Cabrera was arrested after the allegations were reported to authorities in May 2019.
Investigators said Cabrera preyed on his young victims at Oxnard Elementary School in North Hollywood, where he worked as a teaching assistant in the school’s computer lab.
The alleged victims were six girls between the ages of 10 and 11.
An aunt of one of the victims described the inappropriate touching.
“For her, it was just the leg because she told him ‘OK, don’t do that. That’s not OK.’ But you know some kids are afraid, and they just let adults do whatever because they don’t know how to react,” she said.
Cabrera was originally charged with one count of continuous sexual abuse and five counts of lewd acts upon a child. In January 2020, he pleaded no contest to one felony count each of continuous sexual abuse and lewd act upon a child under 14 and four misdemeanor counts of child molestation.
He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
According to prosecutors, the abuse occurred between September 2016 and May 2019. Parents said Cabrera worked at the school for at least six years.