In April 2016, the plaintiff, a 15-year-old student at San Gabriel Mission High School, an all-female Catholic school operated by The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, allegedly began to receive special attention and treatment from her volleyball coach, Juan Ivan Barajas. For the next several months, Barajas allegedly manipulated the student to engage in sexual acts with him while on school grounds. In July 2016, Barajas’ wife discovered evidence that he was abusing a student, and when she confronted him, Barajas fled and took the student with him. Barajas drove the student to Las Vegas. For five days, he tried to escape authorities by sleeping in his car in secluded parks. He was eventually spotted by Las Vegas police, and the student was rescued. Barajas was arrested for crimes against a minor and later convicted of sex crimes against a minor in both Nevada and California. The 15-year-old student, by and through her guardian ad litem, sued Barajas, San Gabriel Mission High School and The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The plaintiff alleged that Barajas’ actions constituted sexual assault and that the school district and school were negligent in their supervision and retention of Barajas. She also alleged that the school district and school were negligent for failing to exercise ordinary care to protect their students. Since Barajas has been incarcerated since his arrest, he did not appear at trial and a default judgment was entered against him. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the archdiocese and high school failed to act on the numerous complaints and concerns they received from faculty and parents regarding Barajas’ inappropriate interactions with female students. Counsel maintained that a series of complaints against Barajas were brought to the attention of school faculty members and the archdiocese throughout the 2014-2015 school year, the summer of 2015 and the 2015-2016 school year. Counsel contended that despite those complaints, very little action was taken against Barajas and Barajas remained employed at the all-girls school with access to the students and very little oversight. Plaintiff’s counsel asserted that by the time Barajas began targeting the plaintiff, the archdiocese knew Barajas was a danger to female students. Defense counsel for the school district and high school denied the plaintiff’s allegations. Counsel asserted that the prior complaints against Barajas were not sexual in nature and, therefore, did not give notice of Barajas’ propensity to engage in sexual misconduct. Defense counsel further asserted that Barajas was appropriately counseled in response to the prior complaints against him., The teenage student claimed that as a result of the incidents, she suffers from emotional distress, including panic attacks and flashbacks. She claimed that although she still struggles with the events, she is graduating from a non-Catholic high school and wants to attend college. The plaintiff sought recovery of damages for her emotional pain and suffering. Defense counsel noted that the plaintiff was not diagnosed with any psychological condition.