| | Published April 10th, 2013
| School District Argues Statute of Limitations in Civil Case
| | By Sophie Braccini | | |
Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Judith Craddick asked attorneys March 29 for more written arguments before she decides if the statute of limitations applies to the civil case put forward by Kristen Cunnane against the Moraga School District and three former administrators for negligence that led to her sexual abuse by a teacher in the 1990s.
According to Louis Leone, an attorney representing the school district, the hearing had been postponed for several months in order for the parties to seek a mutual agreement. "The mediation lasted for two full days and ended after the attorneys for Ms. Cunnane and the insurance carrier for the district could not reach an accord," he said.
During arguments before Judge Craddick the school district's attorneys maintained the line of defense they established back in October 2012; Leone argued that Cunnane's case was filed after the time allowed under the statute of limitations.
"The law requires timely filings in order to give defendants a fair chance and to prevent situations like this one, in which the evidence and allegations are nearly 20 years old," said Leone.
Cunnane's attorneys disagreed. "They (the defendants) say it's too late for her to seek justice. Their position, essentially, is that Kristen should have known they were engaged in a massive cover-up. The argument is offensive and it will not prevail," said attorney Paul Llewellyn. "The more we learn about what was going on in the Moraga School District in the 1990s, the more committed we are to holding the District accountable for what Kristen and others suffered as a result of the District's failure to protect its students and the related cover-up."
Superintendent Bruce Burns indicated the day before the hearing that the district was continuing to seek a settlement with Cunnane.
In the meantime a former Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School teacher, identified as Carol Scozzafava, told reporters from the Contra Costa Times that she warned administrators multiple times of possible child molestation at the school in the '90s; she said no one listened to her and she was pushed to resign.
"This was the first time I had heard the name of that teacher," said Burns. "I looked in our files and all we have is a standard letter of resignation." Burns, who joined the District years after the molestation scandal, added that he is personally eager to find more facts. "If someone has more information we want to hear about it," he said. "We want to understand fully what happened so we can prevent anything of the sort from ever happening again."
In 1996 JM science teacher Dan Witters was accused by several students of sexual abuse; he committed suicide a short time later. Three years ago, Cunnane came forward and accused her former JM physical education teacher, Julie Correa, of sexually abusing her over a period of years. Correa was convicted and is now serving an eight-year sentence. Cunnane filed a civil suit against the Moraga School District, retired JM principal Bill Walters, retired assistant principal Paul Simonin and retired superintendent John Cooley when it surfaced a year ago that some district staff knew about Witters' conduct before charges were brought forth and failed to report it, as mandated by law. Cunnane's claim is that this negligence enabled and empowered Correa to abuse her without fear of repercussion. Two other unidentified women filed suits last October for more than $15 million each claiming the same defendants' inaction led to them being sexually abused by Witters.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA