California School Officials Arrested For Allegedly Not Reporting Three Sexual Assault Cases

Two assistant principals in Rialto, California, have been arrested for allegedly failing to report three instances of sexual assault at a high school to law enforcement.

The Wilmer Amina Carter High School officials, 38-year-old David Yang and Natasha Harris, 37, were taken into custody on Wednesday. They were charged by the San Bernardino County District Attorney with two misdemeanor counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect and a count of child abuse — which is a felony, as reported by NBC Los Angeles.

“They’re mandated reporters and they are supposed to do their job,” the father of a teenaged accuser told the outlet. “They should be held accountable every way shape and form possible.”

One mother says her then 15-year-old daughter was assaulted last November by a 17-year-old male but that the school did not do anything. The woman’s husband claims her daughter was told, “Maybe it was the way you were dressed or you might be seeking attention.”

The parents learned of the allegation last week after their daughter told school officials she was being harassed by the alleged perpetrator. After the student complained to the school last week, it was uncovered that another accuser came forward to administrators in September 2021. The alleged victims are 15 and 16, and the same male student is noted as the alleged perpetrator. Police led the investigation.

Wilmer Amina Carter High School’s communications office declined to comment to The Daily Wire.

“The safety and well-being of students is our number one priority. Accordingly, these allegations are taken with extreme seriousness,” a spokesperson for the school district said. “The District will continue its internal investigation until all the facts related to this matter are brought to light.  We will also continue to work with local authorities as they conduct their own investigation.”

Rialto, located about an hour east of Los Angeles, serves more than 25,000 students in 29 schools. The school officials have a bail set at $150,000, according to NBC Los Angeles. They have been booked at a detention center. California law says that school officials must report any suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to police, according to the district attorney’s office.

“In this case, the assistant principals’ failure to report sexual assault on their campus erodes the trust that students and parents alike should have regarding the safety and protection of all the children in their care,” said San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson. “Their failure as mandated reporters to notify law enforcement lead to further victimization of two students, and the sexual assault of a third victim, which was preventable.”

The alleged 17-year-old perpetrator, who has a pending charge of sexual battery on school grounds, was released back into his parents’ custody, according to a Rialto Police Department press release.

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