Mothers of middle school girls who were sexual abuse victims at the hand of a PE teacher are suing San Jose Unified School District, claiming that heinous actions could have been prevented had the school properly addressed a complaint against the teacher.
The suit filed Thursday by Tamorah Doe and Sarah Doe, whose last names were not disclosed to protect the identity of the young victims, says that Willow Glen Middle School's former teacher and track and field coach Clifford Pappadakis, 47, took photos of the two girls and "several other female students between ages 13 and 15" in sexual manners.
Attorney Mark Boskovich says the school's principal failed to seize Pappadakis’ District-issued laptop until almost six months after a second complaint from a parent about Pappadakis' behavior of photographing girls in their bikinis during a swim practice.
"This was a preventable assault on the girls," Boskovich said in a statement to press.
Pappadakis was described as "creepy" and one student nicknamed him "Coach P.P.," which allegedly stood for “Coach Pedophile Pappadakis," according to the lawsuit.
When Pappadakis photographed the girls, he used zoom lens to focus on the girls' breasts and buttocks, according to the lawsuit. He also mained a website from 2015-2017, which could be accessed through the middle school's website, where he posted photos of young girls in bikinis and "in compromising positions."
The first complained against Pappadakis came in April of 2017 when a parent reported to the principal of Willow Glen Elementary School that Pappadakis was taking an unusual number of photos of girls. The principal told Pappadakis to stop, according to the suit.
Another parent reported his actions to school officials in September 2017, prompting an internal investigation by the San Jose Unified School District. That's when school officials discovered "a plethora of zoomed in pictures" of girls on his school-issued laptop, the suit said.
At that time, Pappadakis was placed on administrative leave. A spokesperson for San Jose Unified School District said Pappadakis in February was formally dismissed from employment with SJUSD as of Dec. 31, 2017.
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Pappadakis was arrested in February of 2018 and convicted in August on seven counts of annoying and molesting a child and one count of possessing child pornography.
