Criminal Charges Dropped Against Former Oakland Teacher in Sexual Abuse Case

Alameda County prosecutors last week dismissed criminal charges against Jeremy Taylor, a former teacher at Oakland School for the Arts.

Taylor was arrested in 2022 and charged with sexually abusing a student roughly two decades ago, soon into his tenure at OSA. The case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence, court records show.

“Mr. Taylor has always been steadfast in his innocence and is grateful that justice has finally been obtained against these false and ruinous allegations,” said Taylor’s attorney, Elizabeth Grossman, in a written statement. “After a many year exhaustive investigation, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence.”

The arrest of the longtime educator rocked OSA students and alums — and prompted a larger conversation about professional boundaries with staff and students at the tight-knit art school.

Haaziq Madyun, a spokesperson for the Alameda County District Attorney’s office, said in a written statement that the prosecutor determined the office could not proceed further after careful review of all the evidence.

Taylor was fired from OSA in February 2022 after a law firm, Oppenheimer Investigations Group, investigated claims against him. The firm sustained allegations that Taylor engaged in grooming behavior with multiple students and had a sexual relationship with one student.

The firm relied on a preponderance of the evidence standard, meaning “the evidence on one side outweighs or is more than, the evidence on the other side.” In criminal trials, the standard is “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The report from Oppenheimer Investigations Group, obtained by KQED through a Public Record Act request, also describes a culture during the school’s founding with little oversight and where close relationships with teachers were normalized.

In a statement, Oakland School for the Arts spokesperson Steven Borg said the school’s priority is “to ensure a safe, supportive, and discrimination-free learning environment in which students can thrive.”

The student at the center of the criminal case also filed a civil complaint against OSA, alleging the school failed to adopt adequate safeguards to protect its students.

The civil complaint was formally dismissed last year and ended in a seven-figure settlement with OSA, according to Jemma Dunn, an attorney for the plaintiff in the civil suit and partner with Greenberg Gross.

Dunn said coming forward wasn’t initially her client’s decision, but the bravery she showed in pursuing this case was inspirational for other survivors.

“We’re very proud of her,” Dunn said. “We’re obviously disappointed to hear about the DA’s decision on the criminal case. But the law provides for several manners in which a survivor of sexual assault can obtain justice.”

The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe in court records, said in a written statement that she was “painfully disappointed in the DA’s decision to drop the case after three and a half long years.”

But she said she was thankful for the outcome in the civil case “as it provides an opportunity to heal from this tragedy.”