Family Files Lawsuit Over Bus Driver Sexually Assaulting Young Girl in SLO County

According to a lawsuit filed on April 6, 2018, a 9-year-old girl was molested by her bus driver for months, even after her guardians alerted the Lucia Mar school system to investigate—which they did and allowed the driver to continue working. The girl’s family is suing the Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD), the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, the County of San Luis Obispo and the bus driver, David Kenneth Lamb.

Attorneys Dave Ring and Brendan Gilbert of Taylor & Ring, and co-counsel Robert May of The May Firm, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the special needs student, referred to in court documents as Jane Doe. Her guardians and attorneys say that the girl told her family about the abuse, and they took their concerns to the school district and asked for an investigation, where there was security video evidence available from the bus. They allege LMUSD failed to do their job investigating, and did not watch the video, as they would have clearly seen the abuse occurring, and cleared Lamb to continue driving the bus.

“They never checked the surveillance video. If they had, they would have seen disturbing video, surveillance of this bus driver. They would have realized a crime was being committed,” Dave Ring said.

After Lamb was cleared, Doe’s lawyers allege he molested her several more times. Doe’s guardians then contacted Jesperson School with their concerns, but they took no action. Her guardians then contacted the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office, who launched their own investigation, and arrested Lamb after watching the security video. He is currently charged with criminal felonies relating to child sexual assault and facing years in prison.

“The school district and office of education engaged in despicable conduct,” said Ring. “When provided with real complaints about the bus driver’s misconduct, the school district blew it off, did not review the video, and accused the little special needs girl of being a liar. Despicable.”

A timeline of events

The following timeline outlines the alleged abuse.

• January 9, 2017: Lamb starts driving the LMUSD school bus, picking up Jane Doe and driving her to Jespersen School. Doe is typically the only student on board and Lamb begins engaging in inappropriate behavior, including showing her graphic videos on his phone.
• April 6, 2017: GPS tracking on the bus shows Lamb making a suspicious stop for 10 minutes.
• April 7, 2017: Security footage shows Lamb parking the bus in a secluded area, looking around suspiciously, and having Doe switch seats out of view of the camera. Lamb can still be partially seen on camera sexually abusing Doe. A few days later, she tells her guardians about the incident.
• April 10, 2017: Doe’s parents notify LMUSD, who pull Lamb from his route to “investigate.” They later inform the parents that the security tapes showed nothing. It is doubtful they ever reviewed the tapes.
• April 26, 2017: Lamb resumes bus-driving duties and picking up Doe.
• May 9 and 26, 2017: GPS tracking again shows Lamb making suspicious 10-minute stops.
• May 18, 2017: Doe reports the incidents to her guardians and states that Lamb threatened her if she told anyone. Her guardians report this to multiple supervisors, officials, and employees, but no action is taken.

LMUSD and the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education are being sued for negligence, negligent hiring, supervision and retention of an unfit employee, breach of mandatory duty to report suspected child abuse, and negligent supervision of a minor. Lamb is being sued for sexual abuse of a minor.

When a child is being sexually abused, it is crucial someone speaks up on their behalf. Those who stay silent and let this abuse occur are complicit in these crimes. The attorneys at Taylor & Ring are here to fight on behalf of your child and your family. We serve clients in the Los Angeles area. Call us today at 310.776.6390 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation.