Attorneys from Manly, Stewart & Finaldi announced in a recent press release that they are representing a former student at the elite private Bishop’s School in La Jolla in a child sexual abuse lawsuit against the school and the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego. The lawsuit alleges that the former student (who remains anonymous) was repeatedly sexually molested and harassed by computer sciences teacher Irasema Triana. The lawsuit claims the abuse began when the student was 16-year-old and the teacher was a 32-year-old married woman with children. The abuse allegedly continued for more than two years and included: hand-holding, flirting, touching, fondling, oral sex, and sexual intercourse on the Bishop’s School campus, at Tirana’s house, at a local hotel, at a local restaurant, at a local park, and across various other San Diego area locations. According to the lawsuit, Triana would bring the student into the computer lab, with the windows covered and the door locked, and subject him to sexual acts. On multiple occasions, teachers and Bishop’s Headmistress saw Triana and the student exiting the computer lab together, with no other person in the room. The former student recalls the headmistress following up with questions that suggested knowledge about what was happening, including but not limited to: “how are you really?” This lawsuit follows media reports and an internal investigation which revealed decades of alleged sexual misconduct at the Bishop’s School. According to the report, “To date, 14 alumni have come forward to report incidents of sexual misconduct…Ten different perpetrators were identified as having engaged in sexual misconduct that would potentially constitute a crime at the time of occurrence.” “This scandal plagued school had every reason to be on guard given the long history of criminal sexual activity on their campus,” said attorney and victim’s advocate Vince Finaldi. “Instead, they ignored all the warning signs and allowed a teacher to sexually molest, harass and threaten our client for two years. “The Bishop’s School is a prestigious institution which charges parents more than $37,000 per year in tuition. They advertise their affiliation with the Episcopal Dioceses as a way to assure parents of the moral rectitude of the school. Yet, they failed miserably in their most basic responsibility—keeping their students safe from sexual predators.” The former student also released a statement. “I have chosen to keep my name private as is the right of every victim of child sexual assault in California. My message to other victims of abuse at the Bishop’s School is — contact law enforcement. Hold your abuser accountable. Protect other children. Your privacy will be respected, and you will be believed.”