The lawsuit alleges that, not only did Sierra Canyon School fail to protect Kipnis’s daughter, it also failed to notify the family after a teacher discovered the Kissing Club.
The parents of an 8-year-old girl have filed a lawsuit against their Los Angeles-area private school, claiming that administrators failed to put an end to a “Kissing Club” that that was allegedly at the center of a sexual assault.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiff Pantea Kipnis, the child’s mother. In a statement, Kipnis told the Times that she hopes to raise awareness so that other families aren’t forced to endure the same trauma.
“Just because you send your kids to a prestigious private school [doesn’t mean] they will necessarily be safe there,” she said.
The lawsuit states that, at the time the alleged abuse and bullying began, Kipnis’s daughter was a 7-year-old student at Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California, a private preparatory school for children in pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade.
Samuel Dordulian, an attorney for the family, said that the girl is no longer enrolled at the Sierra Canyon School.
The lawsuit alleges that the then-7-year-old girl was subjected to bullying by older students, which included name-calling, “peeking through the bathroom stall while the child used the bathroom,” and pressuring her and others to participate in sexual acts.
During school hours, attorneys say, several 7- and 8-year-old girls would meet inside the bathrooms to participate in “the Kissing Club.” Two of the club’s 8-year-olds pressured and intimidated the younger students into joining, including the Kipnis’s daughter. The child was then coerced into kissing other members of the club, as well as the genital area of the two older girls.
An internal investigation found that some of these acts were recorded on the girls’ phones; furthermore, a teacher purportedly took one of the students’ phones and used it to send videos of the acts to herself, which she then showed to other staff members.
The lawsuit alleges that, not only did Sierra Canyon School fail to protect Kipnis’s daughter, it also failed to notify the family after a teacher discovered the Kissing Club.
“Please know that protecting our students and ensuring that the truth is upheld remain at the core of our mission,” the school said in a statement in response to the lawsuit.
In the same statement, the Sierra Canyon School said that it does not comment on pending litigation but wants “to be clear that the allegations are untrue and do not accurately reflect what occurred.”
“We have never ignored concerns related to student care,” the school said. “When questions were raised in the summer of 2024, we reviewed them comprehensively and immediately took proactive measures we determined were appropriate.”
Sources
Family sues Los Angeles private school as 7-year-old daughter is an alleged victim of “kissing club”
‘Kissing Club’ at private L.A. school leads to bullying and sexual assault, lawsuit says
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