Encinitas middle school employee molested 12-year-old girl, lawsuit says
A lawsuit was filed this week on behalf of an underage girl against the San Dieguito Union High School District and a former employee who has been criminally charged with molesting the minor while he was employed at Diegueno Middle School in Encinitas.
Attorneys representing the girl allege school district officials missed "red flags" regarding Omar Galeana's behavior towards the girl, who was around 12 years old at the time.
Galeana, 21, a former supervisor at the school, was arrested in March and charged with 12 felony crimes that include forcible lewd acts on a 12 year-old girl, as well as supplying cannabis to a 12 year old boy.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
He remains in custody without bail.
The lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court alleges Galeana molested the girl both on and off school premises. He also allegedly frequently drove the girl and other students in his car, regularly communicated with students over text messages and social media applications, and often spent time alone with students in secluded areas of the campus.
In a statement, the school district said they had not yet received the lawsuit, but stated "when the allegations were brought to our attention last spring, we took immediate action to remove him from employment and work cooperatively with law enforcement so the facts could be gathered and justice may be served. Working with students of all ages is a profound privilege and our students must be treated with dignity and respect by those entrusted to work with them. Anyone with additional information should contact the San Diego Sheriff's Department Child Abuse Unit, at 858-285-6222. We continue to hope that justice will be served in this situation."
Local
The victim's attorney, Morgan Stewart, said in a statement, "San Dieguito Union High School District ignored multiple 'red flags' regarding the behavior of Galeana that alerted, or should have alerted, SDUHSD to his inappropriate behavior and sexual abuse of children. These included interacting with a 12-year-old girl on an encrypted messaging platform and texts, allowing him to be alone and unsupervised with our client and to pick her up at her home in his car and take her to places where he sexually assaulted her. SDUHSD must be held accountable for their failure to protect children, as required by law."
