Ojai private school sued by former student over alleged teacher sexual abuse

A former student of Oak Grove School is suing the Ojai private school and its parent nonprofit for failing to protect her from alleged sexual assault and abuse by a former teacher and covering up evidence that he had sexually abused other students.

Ventura County Sheriff's deputies had arrested the teacher, Paul Herder on July 31, alleging he coerced a juvenile student into numerous sexual acts and sent "harmful matter to the victim" over the course of an unlawful five-year relationship from August 2013 through June 2017.

Herder, 65, was subsequently charged by the District Attorney's Office with 23 felonies, including multiple counts of unlawful intercourse, luring and various sex-related crimes involving a minor. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has denied all special allegations.

Herder remains housed at the county's Todd Road Jail outside Santa Paula and is not eligible for bail, jail records show.

Herder's attorney in the criminal case, David Lehr, said in an email last week there is "very little" he can say about the case before it is resolved.

The separate civil lawsuit was filed Nov. 13, court records show.

A representative for the school said in a statement last week that Oak Grove recently learned of the civil suit. Joel Keeler, director of advancement, wrote that the school had reported the student's allegations to county Child Protective Services and the sheriff's Sexual Crimes Unit "immediately" after the former student told school staff in July.

Keeler wrote that the school continues to cooperate with law enforcement but could not comment on the case further due to the ongoing investigation.

Oak Grove School is operated by the Ojai-based nonprofit Krishnamurti Foundation of America, part of a small global network established to help preserve and share the teachings of philosopher and spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Krishnamurti spent much of his time in Ojai and died of cancer at his residence there in 1986. He founded the small Oak Grove School in 1975, according to the school's website. Today it combines boarding school and day school programs that serve just under 220 pre-K-12 students.

Lawsuit describes allegations

Attorneys for the former student, now 24 and living in Ojai, initially submitted the 14-page civil filing to Ventura County Superior Court on Nov. 9 under the name Jane Doe.

The suit describes her experience of Herder's alleged abuse and claims the school and foundation "engaged in a concerted effort to hide evidence" of other alleged sexual misconduct by Herder in the years before she was allegedly assaulted.

David Ring, the lead attorney in the civil suit, said the accusations are partially based on information "floating around out there" that Herder "had issues" at a different Krishnamurti school in England before he began teaching at Oak Grove in 2004.

"When there's rumbling like that, it usually turns out to be true," Ring said. The firm plans to seek more information on Herder's history during the course of the case.

As of Monday night, court records show, no attorney of record was listed for any of the three defendants named in the civil case: Herder, Oak Grove and the Krishnamurti Foundation.

The student had enrolled at the K-12 private school as a high school freshman for the 2013-14 year and met Herder on a tour of the campus.

The lawsuit alleges that at the end of the student's first year, Herder kissed her on the cheek during a school assembly. The next year, he began giving her "special attention," including monetary gifts and giving her long hugs, sometimes in the presence of other staff.

During her junior year, the suit claims, Herder escalated the attention, giving the student one of his jackets to wear around campus, touching her on the leg during a school trip and suggesting they go on a date once she turned 18.

Ring said that at one point Herder told the former student that he had been confronted by school staff about his interactions with her, but that the effort had "died on the vine."

"He was so close to this girl and was around her so much and had so many interactions with her," Ring said. "How could they not notice? It's impossible."

In the spring of 2016, the suit alleges, "Herder's grooming and manipulation of (the student) ultimately resulted in him sexually abusing and assaulting her for the first time."

Herder left the school at the end of that year but continued to abuse the student for another year, the suit alleges. By the end of the 2016-17 school year, Herder had sexually abused the student more than 40 times, the document claims.

It wasn't until she was an adult, Ring said, that the student "realized what it was all about" and decided to tell school staff.

"She knew it was wrong and didn't want him to get away with it," Ring said.

Isaiah Murtaugh covers education for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahmurtaugh and @vcsschools. You can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ojai private school sued over alleged teacher sexual abuse