FRESNO, CA— Male victims who unknowingly had pornographic images taken of them by convicted pedophile, David Blancas are filing a lawsuit in Fresno Superior Court tomorrow against the Monson-Sultana School District.
Four of the young men identified as “E.V.”, “R.V.”, “V.V.” and “A.U.” want to speak out publically about their feelings of betrayal by district officials after Reedley police found some of their photographs on Blancas’ computer hard drive.
The fifth plaintiff is a minor who reported to police that Blancas’ inappropriately touched him one year before Blancas’ arrest. He will not attend the press conference.
Blancas, who had worked for the school district for 25 years, was arrested in March 2012 and pleaded guilty in January 2013 to two counts of continuous sexual abuse.
While working as a 6th grade teacher and basketball coach at Monson Sultana Elementary School, Blancas bought some of the plaintiffs clothing, jewelry, video game consoles and sports equipment.
Blancas would take the boys on road trips to basketball tournaments, amusement parks and other kid-friendly outings. They frequently spent the night in hotels. Unbeknownst to the boys, Blancas took pornographic images of their genitals at night, while the boys slept.
In November 2014, a Fresno man identified as “J.B.” filed a lawsuit against the Reedley Little League for sexual misconduct by Blancas as far back as the early 1990’s. J.B. was 12-years-old in 1991 when he came in contact with Blancas who coached for the Reedley Little League. At that time Blancas worked for the school district. The boy reported Blancas’ inappropriate behavior and filed a police report.
The school district requested a copy of the investigation but never followed up to read details. While the DA never pressed charges against Blancas in this case, the details of what the boy reported are disturbing.
Attorney Brian Kabateck, Managing Partner with the Los Angeles based law firm Kabateck LLP represents the five new plaintiffs along with two sex abuse victims known only as “Minor S” and “J.L”.
“Some of these victims, who are now in their late teens and early 20’s were born the same year J.B. first reported Blancas’ inappropriate behavior to police. School district officials did nothing to investigate and allowed a sexual predator to abuse students for decades,” said lead attorney Brian Kabateck.