Sacramento City Unified settles lawsuits over sex abuse at elementary school

Sacramento City Unified and the city of Sacramento have settled lawsuits totaling more than $52 million related to sexual abuse at an elementary school after-school program a decade ago, the Sacramento Bee reported.

The city will pay an estimated 60% of the payout, and the school district will pay the rest.

“These children are going to be living with what has been imprinted into their hard drive, into their brain, the mistrust of adults and the violation that they didn’t even know could happen,” victims’ attorney Roger Dreyer told the Bee.

After-school aide Joshua Rolando Vasquez was convicted of abusing children as young as 7 at Mark Twain Elementary School’s after-school program. He is currently serving a 150-year-to-life prison sentence.

Since the incidents came to light in 2020, the school district has expanded its sexual abuse and mandated reporter staff training, tightened protocols for when staff can be alone with students, and hired a consultant to review the district’s student safety policies.

“The district offers its deepest sympathy to the victims of these despicable crimes and will continue to support their well-being as possible,” the district said in a statement.