Teachers Named In South Bay Sex Probe Continued Working: Report
SAN JOSE, CA — Several teachers named in a sexual abuse report at an elite South Bay Catholic high school have continued to work as educators in the Bay Area, The San Jose Mercury News reports.
The Mercury News report names three former Presentation High School instructors who have worked or currently work as educators in the Bay Area listed in a report commissioned by the school alleging a pattern of abuse spanning four decades.
Former Presentation teachers Dave Garbo, Jeff House and Kris White are named in a probe the school commissioned a Sacramento law firm to conduct.
Van Dermyden Maddux's investigative report revealed a pattern of abuse from the early 1980s through 2013.
Garbo, who until recently has been employed at Jefferson High School, a Daly City public school, had a non-consensual encounter with a student soon after her graduation, the report alleges.
House, who the report alleges cultivated relationships with two students and sexually assaulted one of them at his home when she was a freshman in college, currently works as a tutor and is employed as a consultant in San Jose, according to the report.
White, who the report alleges told a student he loved her, is listed as Fusion Academy's Palo Alto campus as head of school, the report said.
The Van Dermyden Maddux report alleges top school administrators Mary Miller and Marian Stuckey failed to take action when they were aware of the alleged misconduct, The Mercury News reports. Presentation's entire board of trustees announced their resignations Thursday in the aftermath of the report's public release.
Presentation issued a public apology that appears on its website's homepage acknowledging the "hurt" sexual abuse survivors experience, and that "the stark truth is that our school did not live up to its commitment to protect you."
The investigation didn't include the 2004 allegation of a former student because the case involved pending litigation, an NBC Bay Area report said.
The teacher involved in the 2004 case has since been required to register as a sex offender after police found child pornography on his computer when he was at another school, the report said.
The results of the Van Dermyden Maddux investigation are detailed in a 37-page report.
"We know that the findings are difficult to read and to digest, however, this investigation was necessary to examine our past to build and maintain a safe and thriving environment for all students past, present, and future, and to ensure we do not repeat any mistakes," the school's statement read.
"To the survivors of abuse, we deeply and sincerely apologize. The stark truth is that our school did not live up to its commitment to protect you. We added further harm when we responded defensively when reports of past abuse began to surface in 2017. We understand that words cannot m...