Three former students at El Segundo High School have filed a lawsuit accusing their ex-water polo coach of sexually abusing them over the course of several years.
In the lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the unnamed plaintiffs accused George Harris Jr. of using his position to groom, harass and abuse them. The district was also named in the suit.
Harris could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday. It’s unclear if he has an attorney.
Harris began working for the El Segundo Unified School District in 1981 as a social science instructor, the plaintiffs’ attorney, Ruth Rizkalla, said in the complaint. At that time, Harris was also an aquatics coach at the University of Southern California.
He joined the water polo coaching staff at El Segundo High in 1991 and became head coach in 1997, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. He departed in 2009, reportedly due to an unidentified medical condition, the newspaper reported.
In a statement to The Times, El Segundo Unified Supt. Melissa Moore said the district had been “made aware of allegations of serious misconduct” and “takes seriously its responsibility to maintain safe school environments on all of its campuses.”
One of the plaintiffs, who attended El Segundo High from 2002 to 2006 and was a member of the water polo team his freshman and sophomore years, alleged that Harris showed him favoritism, allowing him to use his private car and giving him gifts.
Harris allegedly began asking about the student’s sexual life and habits, supplied him with pornography and asked the student to touch his genitals.
Another student and water polo player who attended El Segundo High from 2005 to 2009 alleged that Harris required him to participate in hours-long telephone conversations, during which Harris would talk about sexually explicit topics.
Players who participated in the conversations allegedly became favorites of Harris and were rewarded with positions as team captains.
The complaint asserts that the El Segundo school district knew of Harris’ alleged misconduct “at least as early as the 1980s” but did not report it to law enforcement.
The district “by its complete lack of control over its faculty, allowed this sexualized environment to exist and spread throughout its high schools, where Harris would continue to destroy the lives of district students, including the plaintiffs, for nearly 30 years,” the complaint alleges.
In her statement, Moore said “the district cannot comment on the allegations as this is an ongoing legal matter.”
“At this time, the district would like to emphasize its commitment to fostering a safe, secure and positive learning environment for all students,” she said.
Christian Martinez
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