Another Assault Allegation Against AD Who Was Allowed to Resign
A second woman has leveled sex-abuse allegations against a former George Washington High School athletic director that public records show the district let quietly resign.
As reported by the The San Francisco Standard, Jane Doe 2, as she's called in a recently amended lawsuit against the San Francisco Unified School District, says Lawrence Young-Yet Chan began grooming her as a sophomore in 2012.
Filed last month, the original lawsuit outlines alleged abuse of a former student who said she also was groomed and sexually abused by Chan. The first former student to come forward said she was repeatedly assaulted between 2012 and 2016, including oral copulation and intercourse on school grounds.
Related: Lawsuit: AD Allowed to 'Quietly Resign' After Abusing Athlete
Chan bought lunch for female student-athletes, allowed them to drive his car, chauffeured them to and from school, stretched their bodies including in between their legs, and took them out to dinner, the lawsuit claims, as reported by The Standard. The updated complaint goes on to say he would also spend time alone with the second student on the weekend.
The lawsuit also says Chan would repeatedly ask the first student's teacher to excuse her from class, proceed to sexually assault the girl in the football locker room and then send her back to class. The teacher "thought the behavior was odd," but did not report it, the suit added.
Jane Doe 2 said she was molested by Chan after he called her into his office to ice a sports injury, and that he would repeatedly summon her into his work area after practice to perform oral sex on him.
Chan also tried to scare Jane Doe 2 out of reporting him by claiming his brother was a gang member who trafficked girls for sex, according to the suit.
According to The Standard, the first student reported the alleged abuse to the San Francisco Police Department in 2017. SFUSD has told The Standard it cooperated with law enforcement but said it had no "existing responsive records" about the investigation.
On Aug. 30, SFPD said in an email it was unable to confirm "the identification of suspects arrested beyond 90 days."
According to public records obtained by The Standard, SFUSD placed Chan on paid leave in May 2017 as officials investigated alleged misconduct. Three months later, the two parties entered into a settlement that allowed Chan to resign and barred him from suing the district.
SFUSD, in turn, promised not to disclose personnel information unless compelled to do so legally. The district also agreed to pay Chan for unused vacation time.
The confidential nature of the settlement allowed Chan to continue working for the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department, where he was first hired in 2004. City officials on Thursday said he remains categorized in their system as an as-needed employee and last worked as a recreation leader for the department in February 2020.
Lauren Cerri, who represents the two victims, called the settlement "disturbing," The Standard reported.
"It protects the district, but what about the kids in other districts or other places where he goes to work?" said Cerri, an attorney representing the San Jose-based firm of Corsiglia, McMahon & Allard. "It's a classic pass-the-trash case — make it someone else's problem with no regard for the safety of the kids. Who knows how many more there are?"
Efforts by The Standard to reach Chan and the attorney listed as representing him in the settlement were unsuccessful.
SFUSD, meanwhile, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday about the second woman who came forward.
But the district addressed the initial complaint by saying it takes claims of sexual misconduct, harassment and abuse "very seriously."
"When these claims were reported to SFUSD," district spokesperson Laura Dudnick said, "we immediately launched an investigation and placed the employee on leave. Throughout the investigation, the district fully cooperated with law enforcement."