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New Report Claims LAUSD Covered Up, Failed To Act On Child Sex Abuse Allegations

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A new report, released to the public Tuesday, alleges that the Los Angeles Unified School District covered up sexual abuse claims about a fourth grade teacher.

Luis Carillo, and several other attorneys who are representing plaintiffs in a civil case against the district, released the Oct. 2009 LAUSD report stating parents had told officials that teacher Robert Pimentel he had been known to touch female students inappropriately.

The report allegedly contradicts later claims by Superintendent John Deasy.

Pimentel, 57, wasn't arrested until January 2013 on suspicion of abusing 20 children at George De La Torre Elementary School in Wilmington. Those incidents all stem from allegations that reportedly occurred after 2011.

He is facing eight counts of continuous sexual abuse and seven counts of lewd acts upon a child, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney.

"It's time to hold Deasy and all the board members accountable," Carillo told KNX1070's Ed Mertz reported.

New Report Claims LAUSD Covered Up, Failed To Act On Child Sex Abuse Allegations

According to Carrillo, at least one parent told district officials in Oct. 2009 that Pimentel inappropriately touched her daughter while teaching at the school. The attorney says the district did not file a report or notify police of the incident.

"The LA Unified School Distrit, not only were they negligent in protecting the kids, the deliberately withheld information from the police department and child protective services to cover up a child predator," Carillo said.

The district released the following statement Tuesday morning after the report was made public:

"We take all allegations of misconduct seriously. Although we must protect the confidentiality promise to parents as part of the 2009 mediation, we can say with certainty that any allegations of misconduct were promptly reported to the appropriate authorities. Furthermore, when Dr. Deasy was provided with new information in the case in early February, he immediately handed it over to the Los Angeles Police Department. The school district also launched its own administrative investigation by an outside agency into the handling of this matter."

Four district employees have been placed on a leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Pimentel is being held on $12 million bail. A preliminary hearing has been set of May 9.

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