Oceano sexual assault victim wins latest battle in suit against school district

August 27, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

A victim of sexual assault at the hands of a second grade teacher at the former North Oceano Elementary School is suing the district and multiple Does who allegedly had knowledge of the abuse but failed to protect their charges. On Monday, a court ordered the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to turn over records of investigations and complaints made against former second grade teacher Paul Ilger.

Ilger was living in San Luis Obispo and teaching second grade at North Oceano Elementary School in 1988 when deputies arrested the 36-year-old man for sexually molesting his students. He later pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child younger than 14 years and one count of oral copulation with a child younger than 14 years. He spent four years in prison.

In 2002, Ilger was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender and sentenced to 32 months in jail. He died in 2021.

Now in his 40s, one of Ilger’s victims, listed as John Doe, filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the Lucia Mar Unified School District for negligent hiring, failure to supervise, retention of an unfit employee, failure to report suspected child abuse, and negligent supervision of a minor.

In 1987 and 1989, Ilger would gather approximately a dozen young boys and girls in his classroom during breaks and instruct them to engage in sexual behavior.

For example, “Ilger forced the girls to expose their genitals to the boys in order to induce the boys to become erect, and thereafter had the students fondle each other while he watched, with his own genitals exposed to the students,” according to the lawsuit filed by attorney James Lewis with Slater, Slater and Schulman in Beverly Hills. “Ilger digitally penetrated the girls’ vaginas and inappropriately fondled the boys’ genitals underneath their clothes, and at times forced plaintiff to put rubber bands on his penis.”

As a result of the abuse at the hands of his teacher, the lawsuit asserts John Doe “suffered severe emotional distress, humiliation, and shame, among other significant harms, all of which have detrimentally affected his subsequent education, career, social relationships, and general quality of life.”

After receiving a subpoena for records regarding Ilger, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing refused to produce responsive documents and later claimed many of the records were privileged.

Aside from allowing the commission to redact the names of the other victims, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Michael Kelley ordered the commission to comply with the subpoena.

A case management conference is scheduled for Sept. 10.