SAN BRUNO – A new lawsuit accuses a San Bruno school district of failing to prevent a teacher from sexually abusing four of his young charges between 2016 and 2023.
The filing comes just days after a jury found 34-year-old Jeremy Yeh, of San Mateo, guilty on 17 felony child molestation charges. He faces up to 425 years in state prison when he is sentenced on April 25.
Two of the four plaintiffs – identified only as JR and KM – are singled out in the lawsuit.
JR attended first grade at El Crystal Elementary School and second grade at Allen Elementary School, and KM attended first and second grade at Allen, according to the suit.
The lawsuit, filed by the Thompson Law Office, alleges Yeh repeatedly sexually molested and abused JR and KM.
In addition, the suit claims the San Bruno Park School District received complaints about Yeh inappropriately touching children as early as 2017 but failed to take any action.
That year, a student saw Yeh pull down another girl’s pants while hugging her and notified school officials, according to the lawsuit. But instead of investigating the allegations, El Crystal Principal Jeanne Elliott forced both students to meet with Yeh, the suit claims.
The lawsuit alleges Elliot later sent a letter to parents calling the student Yeh abused “a liar.” A school official also told Yeh the student was “troubled” and both the student who reported the incident and the student whose pants were pulled down were punished for “spreading rumors.”
“These actions amount to ratification of Jeremy Yeh’s misconduct and thus aided and abetted Jeremy Yeh to continue to sexually molest, abuse, harass, manipulate, assault and batter” at least four students, including JR and KM, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims neither Elliott nor Superintendent Cheryl Olson reported the incident to police as mandated by law. The district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Now that the criminal case is over, it is time to hold the San Bruno Park School District responsible for its failures, which are egregious,” said Bobby Thompson, the attorney representing JR and KM. “My clients’ intent is to shine a light on the district’s actions and inactions, and to prevent this from ever happening again at a school within the district.”
The San Bruno Police Department ultimately conducted an investigation and took Yeh into custody in April 2023. KM stepped forward as one of the victims after police announced the arrest and urged parents to talk with their children, according to her mother.
In an interview Monday, KM’s mother recalled the “really hard conversation” she had with her daughter. This news organization is not naming her to protect her daughter’s identity.
“It took about an hour,” KM’s mother said through a Spanish interpreter. “She went into a full-blown panic attack. I had to take pauses to try and calm her down.”
JR’s father learned his daughter was one of Yeh’s victims during a meeting with police. He is also not being named by this news organization to protect his daughter’s identity.
“We feel betrayed,” JR’s father said through the interpreter when asked about the school district’s handling of the allegations against Yeh. He lamented the missed opportunity to take precautions and protect his daughter. “We never would have let this happen.”
KM’s mother and JR’s father view the suit as another opportunity to exact justice for their daughters.
“We didn’t deserve this,” KM’s mother said.
“We want to have justice so that we can have more peace as a family,” JR’s father said. “Most importantly, we don’t want to see this happen to other children in the future.”
Thompson said he believes there are additional victims, noting that two of the known four are undocumented and others may not have come forward because of their immigration status.
“I hope this lawsuit will empower those families to come forward out of the shadows and report what happened to them,” Thompson said. “They need to know they can get help.”
Staff writer Robert Salonga contributed to this report.
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