Sex abuse victim sues Los Banos school district

LOS BANOS, Calif. (KFSN) -- A North Valley school district is being sued by a former student claiming the district did nothing to protect her from sexual abuse at the hands of two different teachers.

The victim claims sexual abuse by two teachers who are already in jail for the criminal charges.

This new, civil suit demands action and money for damages.

In a civil law suit filed on behalf of the victim, attorneys out of the Bay Area are demanding changes when it comes to training and monitoring teachers at Los Banos Unified School District.

The victim, who was allegedly sexually abused by teachers Dusty Norris and Gary Bettencourt at both Pacheco and Los Banos High Schools, says she was molested in class by Norris.

"Molesting kids in classrooms," attorney Robert Allard said. "It doesn't get worse than that and there were multiple children over a multiple year period the whole thing is extremely disturbing."

The civil complaint details one instance where teacher Norris put a movie on in class, had the students turn their chairs and molested the victim in the back of the classroom.

"These molesters were obviously very comfortable in their surroundings their conduct can be described as nothing less than brazen they were out in the open in classroom when kids were around," Allard said.

Allard says the teachers had no fear of being caught and that's why the district's policies when it comes to child sexual abuse need to provide more training so that it's not just reported to authorities but also prevented.

"This case is a perfect illustration of what happens when administrators are not trained properly when warning signs are not seated when red flags are not identified," he said.