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Riverside Unified sexual abuse claimsConfidential. No fee unless we recover.

You can read this page without contacting anyone, reach us without giving a name, and nothing happens until you say so. Riverside Unified settled claims over a Liberty Elementary teacher's aide in 2018, and more children sued in 2019. If this happened to you or your child, you can still bring a claim, in confidence.

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Josh Kohanim, Esq.Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Published · Reviewed

In this guide

The record at Riverside Unified

Fernando Figueroa, a teacher's aide at Liberty Elementary, was arrested in February 2017 and indicted by a grand jury on charges that he sexually abused 11 children. He pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 and, on December 13, 2019, was sentenced to 20 years to life. In late 2018 the district paid $6.2 million to settle a suit for three children. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case depends on its own facts.
What happenedOutcomeDateSource
Liberty Elementary: an aide abused children in 2015 to 2017$6.2 million settlement for three childrenLate 2018Manly Stewart & Finaldi
Three more children sued over the same aideFiled; outcome not in the sources hereSeptember 26, 2019Manly Stewart & Finaldi

Status of the cases

The 2019 suit alleges that children, eyewitnesses and parents reported Figueroa's conduct to Liberty teachers and to the school's principal before or during the abuse. It alleges the principal and staff took no action and failed to alert local authorities as California's mandatory reporting law requires. It also alleges the district negligently hired him and failed to monitor and supervise him during the 2015 to 2016 and 2016 to 2017 school years. Those are the plaintiffs' allegations, and the sources on this page do not report how the 2019 suit ended. Source: Manly Stewart & Finaldi. Penal Code section 11166 requires a school employee who knows or reasonably suspects abuse to report it immediately by telephone, with a written report within 36 hours. Whether reports were made, and what the school did with them, is the question at the center of a claim against the district.

Filing deadlines

Two tracks apply to abuse at a Riverside Unified school. For conduct on or after January 1, 2024, there is no time limit; AB 452 wrote that into Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1(p). For earlier conduct, the AB 218 rules apply. A survivor may file until age 40, or within five years of discovering that an adult psychological injury was caused by the abuse, whichever is later. Survivors 40 and older must file certificates of merit from an attorney and a licensed mental health practitioner. No government claim is required. Government Code section 905(m) exempts childhood sexual assault claims, so the six-month claim deadline for other injury cases against a district does not apply. SB 577 passed the Legislature at the end of August 2026 and awaited the Governor as of September 23, 2026. It may change the rules for older claims. Our statute of limitations page tracks it.

District responsibility

A district answers for its employees. Government Code section 815.2(a) makes a public entity liable for an employee's act or omission within the scope of employment. In C.A. v. William S. Hart Union High School District (2012) 53 Cal.4th 861, the California Supreme Court held that a district can be liable for administrators who negligently hired, kept or supervised an abusive employee. School personnel must use reasonable measures to protect students from foreseeable injury. In Doe v. Lawndale Elementary School District (2021), the Court of Appeal held that this duty does not depend on proof that the district knew of prior misconduct. Whether administrators responded reasonably to warning signs is a jury question. Section 340.1 allows up to treble damages for a proved cover-up, but in Los Angeles Unified School District v. Superior Court (2023) the California Supreme Court held that public districts do not pay them.

A confidential first step

A Jane Doe or John Doe filing is common in these cases. Courts commonly allow it, and we will ask whether you want one. You do not have to face the abuser to bring a claim. Nothing you tell us is shared without your say. No fee unless we recover. If there is no recovery, you owe no fee and no case costs. Spanish-speaking staff answer the phone. The wider Riverside and San Bernardino record is on our Inland Empire page; the law for every district is on our California school sexual abuse lawyer page.

Records to gather

You do not need documents to make a first call, but they help. For a parent: write down what your child said, in their words, with the date; keep messages and devices; ask the school for its written policy and its Title IX coordinator's name. Note any concern you raised with a teacher or the principal, and when. Our after your child tells you checklist covers each step. For an adult survivor: the school, the years, and the adult's role; yearbooks, report cards, photos or messages that place you there; the names of friends who knew. Do not contact the abuser or the district, and do not post details online. Our before you call checklist walks through it.

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Sources cited

Frequently asked questions

My child was at Liberty Elementary during those years. Can we still file?
Abuse during the 2015 to 2017 school years falls under the AB 218 rules. A survivor may file until age 40, or within five years of discovering that an adult psychological injury came from the abuse, whichever is later. A child's claim is brought by a parent or guardian. No government claim is required. You can call or text without giving a name, and nothing happens until you say so.
Does the aide's guilty plea prove the district is responsible?
No. The plea settles what he did. The district's responsibility turns on what its staff knew and did. The 2019 complaint alleged that children and parents reported his conduct to teachers and the principal and that no one acted or called authorities. Allegations like that, if proved, are what make a district liable under C.A. v. William S. Hart. Every case depends on its own facts.
Do I have to prove the district knew about him before the abuse started?
Not in the way districts often argue. In Doe v. Lawndale Elementary School District (2021), the Court of Appeal held that a district's duty to protect students from abuse by employees does not depend on actual knowledge of the employee's prior misconduct. Whether administrators responded reasonably to warning signs is for a jury. Reports made during the abuse, and what happened to them, are central.
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