By Ricardo Roura
Sep 12, 2024, 4:58 PM EDT
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) reached an agreement to pay $24 million to three women who reported sexual abuse by an elementary school teacher in 2006 and 2007, the victims’ lawyers said.
The plaintiffs, identified only as Jane Doe 1, Jane Doe 2 and Jane Doe 3, filed separate lawsuits in Los Angeles and Van Nuys Superior Courts in 2021.
In their complaints, the women stated that they were between 8 and 9 years old when the teacher, identified as David Ostovich, who was over 40 years old at the time, He repeatedly sexually abused them in his classroom and during school hours at Langdon Avenue Elementary Schoolin North Hills.
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Prior to the alleged abuse of the plaintiffs, Ostovich worked at Germain Street Elementary School in Chatsworth, where the teacher received dozens of complaints from administrators, teachers, parents and students about his inappropriate behavior with the girls.
“This is an outrageous case that highlights LAUSD’s systematic failure to Protecting children from known child abusers“said plaintiffs’ attorney David Ring.
The attorney added that the school district received multiple complaints about the teacher’s interactions with the girls, and instead of firing him, They allowed him to move quietly to another school, where he continued his inappropriate dealings with more minors..
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According to the lawyer, The school district never shared the complaints that occurred at Germain Street Elementary School with Langdon Avenue Elementary School. and was allowed to continue teaching fourth grade.
In 2006-2007, Ostovich abused two of the victims in this case. and the following year he was transferred to teach first grade, where he abused the third victim.
“The abuse these three women suffered changed their lives forever. It could have been completely avoided if LAUSD had done their job.“, considered attorney Ring.
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In 2008, detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department They were informed of the allegations and began an investigation.
The Los Angeles police were aware of several victims, including two of the plaintiffs, Ostovich was arrested and convicted, but He never served a prison sentence, although his teaching credentials were revoked..
In 2020, California extended the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuseallowing the three women, now in their early 20s, to file lawsuits against LAUSD and Ostovich.
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The lawsuit lasted for several years before reaching this agreement in 2024, just before the start of a civil trial against LAUSD and Ostovich.
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