A South Bay school district agreed to pay $5.75 million to settle claims that a teacher impregnated a 15-year-old student at Leigh High School during a long-running illegal sexual relationship, and then forced her to have an abortion.
The Campbell Union High School District’s payout comes nearly two years after the allegations surfaced against Shawn Thomas, a physical education and social science teacher who also worked as a football and track coach at Los Gatos High School. The alleged abuse happened during the early 2000s, and came to light decades later after the former student’s sister urged her to go to authorities.
Thomas, who was arrested in March 2024, now faces numerous criminal charges, including rape, sexual penetration of a minor and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor.
The former student’s attorney said the payout represented a measure of justice for the former student, now in her late 30s, and “sends a clear message that schools must take their duty to safeguard students seriously.
“After all these years, my client is finally being vindicated and the school district is finally being held accountable,” said the attorney, Lauren Cerri. “Her entire life was derailed because no one listed to her, and no one believed her.”
The lawsuit accused Thomas of grooming the girl while she was a freshman at Leigh High School, by giving her “special attention” during the 2002-2003 school year. He was already known to be “overly touchy” with students, the lawsuit claimed, and he went on to ask the girl to wear a skirt to school and drove her around.
Their illicit relationship escalated to sexual encounters at his home, a friend’s home, and in his classroom, the lawsuit claimed.
At one point, Thomas’ wife — a dean at the school — nearly walked in on the two during one of those encounters in a classroom. When the student later alerted Sarah Thomas to her pregnancy in spring 2023, the lawsuit claims the dean responded by blaming her.
Neither Sarah Thomas nor anyone else at the school ever reported suspicions of her husband’s sexual abuse to authorities, the lawsuit said. Shawn Thomas allegedly insisted that the girl get an abortion, the lawsuit claimed, which she did.
Both Shawn and Sarah Thomas were placed on paid administrative leave when the allegations came to light in March 2024, Cerri said. Their statuses at the school district were not immediately clear Tuesday.
Leaders with the Campbell Union High School District did not immediately respond to requests for comment from this news outlet.
The case highlighted the peril of teachers or coaches being supervised by their romantic partners, as happened in this case. Cerri stressed that such arrangements never should happen, because it “clearly creates a conflict of interest.”
“The safety of the children always has to come first,” Cerri said.
The sister of the former student said in a statement provided by the former student’s attorneys that the settlement offers “one more step toward my sister reclaiming her life after the immense harm she endured.” The woman and her sister were not named in the statement, and the Bay Area News Group typically does not identify victims of sexual assault.
“While nothing can undo what happened, we are grateful that the district is finally being held accountable for its failures,” the former student’s sister said. “Our hope is that this moment not only helps my sister move forward, but also ensures that no other student is ever ignored or unprotected in the way she was.”
Staff reporter Robert Salonga contributed to this report.
Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.
