When Daniela attended Bell High School in Southeast Los Angeles County in the mid ‘90s, she was a student in Jeffrey Scott Jones’ Advanced Placement English class. As a teenager, she trusted him, and did not yet know the control he would have over her life for years into adulthood.
Daniela, now 43, is one of three former students who married Jones, and one of five victims who say he sexually abused them when they were minors. She is now suing him (PDF) and the Los Angeles Unified School District over claims that school leaders never investigated or notified police after multiple reports of misconduct. Daniela, who asked that we not use her legal name, spoke to KQED on the condition of anonymity because of fears about her safety.
“We were seen as poor kids, like we didn’t matter,” she said of her classmates, many of whom she said grew up in poverty. “But we do matter, and somebody should care.”
Daniela and countless others who say they were sexually abused as children are now able to file their claims in court because of a California state law that went into effect in 2020. Assembly Bill 218, or the California Child Victims Act, temporarily gives victims the chance to bring claims that would otherwise be barred because of the statute of limitations.
The measure provides a three-year window in which victims of childhood sexual abuse can file complaints against perpetrators or their employers, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. That three-year window closes on Dec. 31.
Attorneys who handle abuse claims are urging victims in older cases to come forward before that date. If they wait, it could become harder — or, in some instances, impossible — to hold individuals or their employers accountable through the civil court system.
A pattern of abuse
Advocates for survivors say the extended statute of limitations offers an opportunity to force schools to reckon with historic wrongs through financial pressure. They also say it reflects the reality that many victims do not report childhood abuse (PDF) until years or decades later, if at all.
Experts say victims may fear retaliation, or may not initially recognize what they experienced as abuse.
Daniela says that when she was in high school, everyone adored Jones — including her. She and other students would go to his classroom just to talk. She says she told him everything, and even confided in him that she had been sexually abused by a family member.
According to the lawsuit, Jones targeted young girls who were vulnerable for abuse. He instructed students to take personality tests and send him journal entries, and read students’ palms as a way to see their reaction to physical touch.
Daniela says she moved in with Jones when she was 17 years old, and the abuse began days later. She says she was in denial for years afterward.
“If you really thought it was so bad, you would’ve screamed and yelled and told everybody. No,” she said, remembering her own thought process. “Sometimes we process things by accepting them and accepting them and accepting them.”
According to the lawsuit, Daniela told a teacher about her relationship with Jones. The suit also alleges the sibling of another victim reported Jones to the principal after he married her sister. But school staff did not investigate the allegations or report him to the police, the lawsuit alleges. Instead, according to the suit, Jones worked in the district for decades, moving from school to school.
Jones was convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old in 2016.
A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson declined to comment on the litigation, but said that the safety and well-being of students and employees remains the district’s top priority.
More lawsuits pour in
That suit is one of dozens, if not hundreds, of lawsuits filed against school districts across the state over the last three years because of the law that temporarily set aside the statute of limitations.
According to an analysis from the firms Greenberg Gross LLP and Jeff Anderson and Associates, nearly 70 lawsuits have been filed against the Los Angeles Unified School District alone.
