Guilty! Robert Pimentel, Wilmington, California (arrested Jan 2013)

Ex-LAUSD Teacher Sentenced to Prison for Child Molestation

A former teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District was sentenced on Thursday to 12 years in prison for sexual abuse of his students, officials said. Robert Pimentel, 58, taught fourth grade at George De La Torre Elementary School in Wilmington. He had worked for the Los Angeles County School District since 1974. Deputy District Attorney Lee Ashley Cernok said Pimentel sexually abused multiple girls, who were between 6 and 10 years old, between 2002 and 2012. "He is not a molestor of children, he is not a pedophile," Pimentel's sister, Lily Pimtentel-Stratton, told NBC4 on Thursday. "He wanted ...

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http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...ert-pimentel-sentenced-prison--263899831.html

 

Former L.A. Unified teacher sentenced in sex abuse case

A former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher who sexually assaulted four girls, including a relative, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison after being confronted in court by victims and their families. Robert Pimentel, who worked at George De La Torre Jr. Elementary School in Wilmington, pleaded no contest in May to charges that he sexually abused four girls between 2002 and 2012. Pimentel was charged with 16 felony counts of sexual misconduct involving 12 girls, primarily between 2011 and 2012. He had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges before taking a plea deal in four of ...

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http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-abuse-sentence-20140620-story.html

 

3 named in this article:

• Mark Berndt
• Paul Chapel III
• Robert Pimentel

LAUSD vows to keep kids safe after $88-million teacher sex abuse settlement

A day after it was announced that the Los Angeles Unified School District would pay $88 million to settle sex abuse cases involving a dozen students at Telfair Avenue Elementary in Pacoima and 18 at George De La Torre Jr. Elementary in Wilmington, district officials vowed to keep kids safe. “There is nothing more important than the safety of the students we serve,” said Superintendent Michelle King, in a statement Tuesday. “Well before the resolution of these cases, the school district made changes in our policies and practices to strengthen the protections for our students. “While we are proud of ...

Paul Chapel III:

The district said the settlement included lawsuits from 10 families at Telfair for $23.7 million, and 37 plaintiffs at De La Torre for $58 million. A jury verdict last fall awarded another $6 million — on behalf of two young victims of sexual abuse at Telfair by teacher Paul Chapel III. The settlements were made after allegations that school district administrators were negligent. Other Telfair plaintiffs previously settled with the district for roughly $3 million each, bringing the total number of known students abused at the Pacoima school to 19, according to attorneys. Chapel was sentenced to 25 years in ...

Robert Pimentel:

The abuse at De La Torre Elementary School was committed by former teacher Robert Pimentel, who is serving 12 years in prison after pleading no contest to sex abuse allegations in 2009.

Mark Berndt

The settlement comes less than two years after the LAUSD agreed to pay a record $140 million to 81 students sexually abused by Mark Berndt, an elementary school teacher at Miramonte Elementary School in downtown L.A. The total number of settlements came to $169 million to end 150 Miramonte sex abuse claims. Berndt pleaded no contest in 2014 to 23 counts of lewd acts upon a child and was sentenced to 25 years behind bars. Attorneys said this week’s historic settlements occurred because of overwhelming evidence that the LAUSD ignored warnings, employee reports and parent complaints that the men were ...

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http://www.dailynews.com/general-ne...after-88-million-teacher-sex-abuse-settlement

 

Payouts:

• $200 million (inc. legal fees) -- Mark Berndt, Miramonte Elementary
• $40 million -- Paul Chapel, Telfair Elementary
• $320,000 -- Jason Leon, Portola Middle School
  
• $58 million -- Robert Pimentel, De La Torre Elementary
  
• $6.9 million -- Forrest Stobbe, Queen Anne Place Elementary

Also mentioned:

• Peter Gomez
• Armando Gonzalez
  
• Jaime Jimenez
• Michelle Yeh
• William Webb

Teacher abuse payouts top $300 million as L.A. Unified misses warning signs

Jaime Jimenez:

In a recent court hearing, one young man after another claimed that former Franklin High football coach Jaime Jimenez befriended them during summer practice before 9th grade, then sexually abused them. But it’s not the allegations against Jimenez that are at the center of a lawsuit filed this month against the Los Angeles Unified School District. It’s about whether school officials once again missed — or ignored — warning signs about Jimenez that prolonged the alleged abuse. The nation’s second-largest school system has been plagued in recent years by a series of cases in which officials missed indications of teacher ...

Robert Pimentel:

Complaints against former teacher De La Torre teacher Robert Pimentel spanned a decade. His supervisor, former district Principal Irene Hinojosa, fielded concerns about Pimentel touching students in 2002, when she documented a conference with the teacher about touching and slapping girls’ buttocks and touching their calves. The teacher admitted the conduct, with the excuse that he was on medication, which increased his sex hormones, according to the documents. Three years later, Hinojosa received a search warrant from the Newport Beach police requesting “Mr. Pimentel’s employment and personnel files” because of an investigation into Pimentel’s alleged abuse of a minor who ...

Mark Berndt:

The district’s most expensive abuse case involves Mark Berndt, a former teacher at Miramonte Elementary School south of downtown L.A. The district has spent $200 million on claims made by students, and more cases are outstanding. The size of settlements are also creeping upward. Those first Miramonte claims cost the district about $500,000 each in 2013. Later, similar cases crossed the million-dollar mark. Last week’s payouts in the Pimentel case averaged about $3 million per student. The district last week also resolved suits related to former Telfair Elementary teacher Paul Chapel for about $30 million, bringing the total payouts in ...

Peter Gomez:

Other potentially costly cases are working their way through the legal pipeline, including that of Jimenez and former Franklin drama teacher Peter Gomez, who was convicted of sexually abusing two boys. Both victims sued the district, with one case settled and another settlement pending, according to court records.

Michelle Yeh:

Other active claims relate to former San Pedro High substitute science teacher Michelle Yeh, who last year pleaded no contest to unlawful sex and child molestation involving three boys.

Armando Gonzalez:

Prosecutors declined to charge former El Sereno Elementary School teacher Armando Gonzalez, but at least three former students have sued the district, alleging he abused them between 2008 and 2010. School officials said that many of the biggest settlements in recent years have come from allegations of abuse that occurred some time ago. They believe some of the reforms are showing results. “These settlements involved cases that happened many years ago,” general counsel David Holmquist said. “This is in our history and we’ve taken steps to correct the problems going forward. Students are much safer today than a decade ago.” ...

William Webb:

The district credits this team with recently unearthing alleged abuse from at least 10 years ago, which led to the arrest last week of Asst. Principal William Webb, a case that already has launched another lawsuit. “We welcome new ideas,” Holmquist said. “If there were a reliable psychological test to screen new hires, we’d do that. If somebody has a good idea, bring it on.” In a recent deposition, an L.A. Unified manager testified that, over a seven-month period, the district pulled 40 employees from schools because of sexual misconduct allegations. In 2014 and 2015, the district initiated the dismissal ...

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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...ayouts-for-sex-abuse-20160525-snap-story.html



A somewhat abbrevated version of the above L.A. Times article:

Teacher abuse payouts top $300 million as LA Unified misses warning signs

In the court hearing, one young man after another claimed that former Franklin High football coach Jaime Jimenez befriended them during summer practice before ninth grade, then sexually abused them. But it’s not the allegations against Jimenez that are at the center of a lawsuit filed this month against the Los Angeles Unified School District. It’s about whether school officials once again missed — or ignored — warning signs about Jimenez that prolonged the alleged abuse. The nation’s second-largest school system has been plagued in recent years by a series of cases in which officials missed indications of teacher misconduct, ...

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http://www.readingeagle.com/ap/arti...00-million-as-la-unified-misses-warning-signs

 

$18.4 Million Settlement Reached For Students Sexually Abused By LAUSD Teachers Paul Chapel, Robert Pimentel

Attorneys for students who were sexually abused by Los Angeles Unified School District teachers Paul Chapel and Robert Pimentel say they have won an $18.4 million settlement on behalf of their clients. Attorneys with Manly, Stewart & Finaldi announced the $18.4 million settlement Wednesday, and it’s a portion of the $25 million settlement of child sex abuse claims approved by the Los Angeles Board of Education Tuesday. Five former students of Pimentel will receive a total of $10 million, while the $8.4 million will go to four of Chapel’s former students. Chapel, a former third-grade teacher at Telfair Elementary School ...

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https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/202...e-lausd-teachers-paul-chapel-robert-pimentel/