On December 11th, 2024, Martinian Lawyers filed a lawsuit on behalf of two minors against Oxnard School District and Jorge Ruiz, an employee of the district. The lawsuit alleges that Ruiz sexually harassed and abused minor students and that OSD was negligent in hiring, supervising, and retaining an unfit employee, Ruiz, which resulted in said abuse.
The suit states that 30-year-old Jorge Ruiz posed as another teenager on social media to harass, send sexually explicit materials – including child pornography, and extort sexually explicit photos and materials from the minor students over the course of three years.
Further, the suit alleges that after being notified that Ruiz was under investigation for sexually abusing OSD students, Oxnard School District chose to cover up his behavior, allowing him to continue his abuse of OSD’s students.
Finally, after Ruiz confessed to his crimes, and was arrested at OSD headquarters, OSD chose to maintain RUIZ’s employment at OSD for an entire year afterward, allowing him to resign.
Specifically, the complaint, filed with the Superior Court of California County of Ventura, alleges:
- SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF A MINOR – VIOLATION OF CIV. CODE § 340.11, et seq.
- SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF A MINOR – VIOLATION OF CIV. CODE § 52, et seq.
- SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF A MINOR – VIOLATION OF CIV. CODE § 51.9, et seq.
- DISTRIBUTION OF PRIVATE SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MATERIALS OF A MINOR – VIOLATION OF CIV. CODE § 1708.85
- INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
- NEGLIGENT HIRING, SUPERVISION & RETENTION OF AN UNFIT EMPLOYEE
Y.V.; J.R. v. Jorge Ruiz; Oxnard School District
The full complaint can be accessed below.
Oxnard School District’s Response Failed the Community and Allowed Further Abuse and Cover-Up
On January 20, 2022, police called OSD, and told them that their employee, RUIZ, was under investigation for sexually abusing current OSD students, all of whom were minors. OSD, despite having actual knowledge of RUIZ’s sexual abuse of their minor students, chose not to take any precautionary measures to prevent RUIZ from abusing additional students.
On February 17th, 2022, Ruiz police arrived at the OSD’s office and interviewed Ruiz, and subsequently arrested him.
Even after his arrest, OSD allowed Ruiz to maintain his employment status and access to students for an entire year.
- OSD chose not to investigate, discipline, suspend, or otherwise separate RUIZ from the students at OSD.
- The district chose not to alert any of their students, faculty, or staff about RUIZ, his sexual abuse of minors, or the police investigation into RUIZ.
- The district also chose not to terminate RUIZ’s unfettered access to students, student information, school classrooms, or buildings.
This lawsuit alleges that OSD’s choices in this matter were part of a coverup. A string of decisions that seemed to fly in the face of how the district had handled employees accused of sexual misconduct in the past.
