In 2009, two plaintiffs, both female students who were approximately 8 years old, were allegedly molested by their third-grade teacher at Telfair Elementary School, in Pacoima. They claimed the inappropriate behavior continued throughout the school year and through 2011. The teacher, Paul Chapel III, ultimately pleaded no contest to committing lewd acts on 13 former students — seven girls and six boys — and, in September 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison by San Fernando Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nash. The two female students, through their respective guardians, sued Chapel; Telfair Elementary School; the school’s principal at the time of the incidents, Alfonso Jimenez; the operator of the elementary school and Chapel’s employer, the Los Angeles Unified School District; and the former superintendent of the school district, Ruben Zacarias. The students alleged that Chapel’s actions constituted sexual assault and that the school district, elementary school, principal and superintendent failed to supervise Chapel. They also alleged that the school district should have known that Chapel had a history of sexual abuse cases in court, so the school district was negligent in the hiring and retention of Chapel. Several of Chapel’s alleged victims filed separate civil suits against many of the same defendants. Plaintiffs’ counsel contended that the school district should have known that Chapel was prosecuted in 1997 for sexually molesting a minor, even though that case resulted in a hung jury, and that the school district should have known that Chapel lost a civil case in which he was accused of making sexual jokes and showing a sexually explicit video to students at another school. Counsel also contended that the defendants failed to properly supervise Chapel, in that the female students claimed the subject incidents occurred on school grounds, during school hours. The school district’s counsel contended in its demurrer to the complaint that the claims made by the female students against the school district were untimely and that the students had not complied with the California Tort Claims Act., The female students claimed that they were sexually abused by Chapel at various times from 2009 to 2011. They alleged that as a result, they continue to suffer from emotional distress.