A sexual assault victim is filing a lawsuit against a San Jose school district on Monday after she was one of two students who were allegedly abused by a former music teacher over a period of several years, according to a spokesman for her lawyers.
The suit will seek a court order that the Union School District must implement child protection measures after the district allegedly previously ignored numerous parent complaints that former Dartmouth Middle School music teacher Samuel Neipp was inappropriately and excessively texting female students, said Ed Vasquez, a Corsiglia, McMahon and Allard Law Firm spokesman.
The suit will argue the lack of attention ultimately led to Neipp being emboldened to allegedly sexually abuse two of his students.
The school district issued a statement Monday saying they are "fully cooperating" with investigators and "cannot provide any information that might interfere with the ongoing police investigation."
The statement said, "These disturbing allegations, if found to be true, are completely at odds with our district's values and goals."
Neipp was arrested on Oct. 6, 2017, after one of the victims came forward with the accusations, including an alleged threat by Neipp to post nude photos/video of a victim online.
He has been in jail on more than $2.3 million bail since his initial arrest and is currently housed at the Elmwood Correctional Complex in Milpitas, per jail records.
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The former San Jose music teacher was 34 at the time of his arrest, and started a relationship with both girls when they were each 13 years old, according to prosecutors.
Neipp, who was also a music teacher at Branham and Del Mar high schools, was charged during his October 2017 arraignment with having sexual relations with one student, known as Jane Doe I, several times from December 2014 to April 2015 and another, known as Jane Doe II, at various times between 2013 to 2015.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Michel Amaral said after the arraignment that the conduct of Neipp wasn't necessarily forceful.
"But I would call it coercive," he said. "Both of the relationships started at the age of 13. When you have someone in a position of authority like that ... it's never really consensual in that type of situation."
Amaral said Jane Doe I came forward after Neipp threatened to post nude photos of her online.
"To our knowledge, the extortion aspects of the case happened towards the end, and that's when the victim notified police and that's what got the investigation rolling," he said.
If convicted, Neipp will face 25 years to life in prison, Amaral said.
