EDITOR’S NOTE: This story contains information that is not appropriate for young readers.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH NEW INFORMATION FROM THE DISTRICT, WHICH NOW HAS OFFERED COMMENT ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – A young girl’s allegations that she was sexually abused by fellow students at a local elementary school will go to trial at year’s end.

Last May, a lawsuit on behalf of the girl and her guardian was filed against the Middletown Unified School District in civil court, according to court documents.

The girl and her guardian allege that in April 2010, while she was attending Minnie Cannon Elementary School – which educates students from grades kindergarten through sixth – she was sexually assaulted by several fellow students.

At the time of the alleged assaults the girl was 6 years old. Case documents indicated that the girl – who is now 8 years old – now lives with her guardian outside of Lake County.

Both sides had agreed to mediation, however, during a case management conference on Feb. 14, Lake County Superior Court Judge David Herrick scheduled the case for a nine-day trial beginning Dec. 5.

“I’m not going to comment on it,” said Dr. Korby Olson, Middletown Unified’s superintendent, explaining that it is a case of pending litigation.

He added, “The claim was there. We denied the claim and so it went into the court.”

The school district’s attorney and the attorney for the plaintiff, Grace Chang of the Cifarelli Law Firm in Santa Ana, have not responded to Lake County News’ requests for comment on the case.

The suit alleges that the girl was “sexually molested, assaulted, battered, inappropriately fondled and forced to give oral sex” to as many as 50 unnamed defendants who she alleges were fellow students. However, the district said only three students were alleged to have been involved and the large number of defendants – 50 – was named because the discovery process is not yet finished.

The assaults are alleged to have taken place during school hours behind a shed near the school’s basketball courts, case documents explain.

In a letter sent out to parents last year, school Principal Dan Morgan said it was brought to his attention on April 26, 2010, that “several students in our lower grade levels had engaged in and/or witnessed inappropriate sexual contact between students during school hours.” Specific details of the allegations, he added, had to be kept confidential.

In the suit it’s alleged that Middletown Unified was negligent in supervising its students, as well as the staff members who it’s alleged should have prevented the assaults. Fifty unnamed district employees also are listed as defendants.

The shed behind which the assaults are alleged to have taken place is called a “reasonably foreseeable risk” to students in the case documents.

The suit seeks general damages; special damages such as the loss of future earnings, and costs to cover medical and psychological care for the girl; legals costs; and other damages that the court deems appropriate.

Middletown Unified filed a subpoena for the report made about the alleged assaults to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

The County Counsel’s Office, on behalf of the sheriff’s office, entered a motion to quash that subpoena.

County Counsel Anita Grant told Lake County News that the motion to quash was based on the sheriff’s office’s obligation to maintain reports of abuse as confidential unless ordered by a court to disclose them.

She said those confidentiality requirements are imposed as a result of the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, which can be found in California Penal Code Sections 11164 through 11174.3.

At the Feb. 14 hearing, Judge Herrick ordered the sheriff’s office to produce the documents within 10 days of the hearing.

Grant said the records were produced in a timely manner in accordance with Herrick’s ruling.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .