SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A lawsuit has been filed against Twin Rivers Unified School District alleging a student was sexually abused by a teacher and claiming the district was negligent in hiring him.
The allegations of sexual abuse at Del Paso Heights Elementary School date back to 2014. At least two victims have come forward to police against 62-year-old Kim Wilson who Sacramento police said was a teacher at Del Paso Heights. Wilson was arrested nearly two weeks ago for 17 counts of lewd acts with a child and one count of possession of child pornography.
One of the victims, a woman who is now 20-years-old, has filed a lawsuit against Twin Rivers Unified, Wilson and those involved. The victim's attorney, Lauren Cerri, says her client was sexually abused by Wilson when she was 11-years-old and in sixth grade.
"Her teacher groomed her and sexually abused her repeatedly on school grounds when she was supposed to be supervised. He was supposed to be supervised," said Lauren Cerri, an attorney with Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard, LLP, a law firm based in San Jose.
The complaint filed against Twin Rivers Unified alleges Wilson used his position as a teacher and leader of the school broadcasting group to sexually abuse his victim.
Wilson allegedly took the victim into an isolated room where he photographed her, groped her and touched her. According to court documents, Wilson also forced her to perform oral sex acts.
"Nobody was watching them and it's impacted the trajectory of her life," said Cerri. "She's 20 now. She has suffered from anxiety and it was so easily preventable."
In 2019, another victim reported an incident involving Wilson in 2014. Twin Rivers Unified Police Department forwarded the report to the Sacramento Police Department.
The case was initially suspended until recently when Sacramento police received a report from Cerri's client alleging that Wilson assaulted her that same year.
"If it weren't for my client's bravery in coming forward years later, he would still be teaching there. He should have been gone in 2019," said Cerri.
The lawsuit claims the district was negligent in hiring, supervising and retaining Wilson.
"The goal is to make this districts and all districts safer for our children, so that these school districts implement policies, procedures, trainings so that they know what the red flags are," said Cerri.
ABC10 reached out to the district for comment. They confirmed they have received the complaint, but said they cannot comment on pending litigation.
Jail records show Wilson is still in jail and ineligible for bail.
ABC10 also reached out to Sacramento PD to find out if Wilson was still employed as a teacher at Del Paso Heights Elementary at the time of his arrest but they could not provide us that information.
Wilson is set to appear in court next week.
This is a developing story. ABC10 will update you when we learn more.
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