The lawyers for a family that is suing the Lucia Mar Unified School District (LMUSD) over the alleged abuse of their special needs child released new details and video related to the case on Tuesday.
The nine-year-old girl’s guardians say a school bus driver molested her several times over a four-month period while driving her to school. They claim that despite their repeated complaints and evidence on bus cameras, school employees did nothing to stop the abuse.
During a press conference on Tuesday, lawyers released a portion of surveillance video they say demonstrates the abuse by driver David Lamb.
The ten-minute-long video was edited down to about two minutes in length. It shows a girl sitting in the front seat of the bus, then moving to a seat behind the driver, out of frame. A few minutes later, the driver pulls over, gets up and walks toward the seat which it appeared the girl had moved to earlier. In most of the remaining video, only the driver’s shoulder can be seen. It appears he is moving his arm.
Lawyers also released the following timeline which they claim outlines the alleged abuse:
- Jan. 9, 2017 – David Lamb begins picking up and driving Plaintiff to Chris Jespersen School in LMUSD school bus
- April 6, 2017 – After picking up Plaintiff, GPS tracking on bus shows David Lamb making a suspicious stop for 10 minutes
- April 7, 2017 – Security footage from bus shows David Lamb allegedly molesting Plaintiff
- April 10, 2017 – LMUSD is notified that David Lamb allegedly showed Plaintiff “nasty videos” on his phone and that he “touched her.” LMUSD promises to review the security tapes on the bus
- April 26, 2017 – After spring break, David Lamb resumes picking up Plaintiff from her bus stop
- May 9, 2017 – After picking up Plaintiff, GPS tracking on bus shows David Lamb making a suspicious stop for 10 minutes
- May 16, 2017 – After picking up Plaintiff, GPS tracking on bus shows David Lamb making suspicious stop for 10 minutes
- May 18, 2017 – Plaintiff tells LMUSD that David Lamb sexually abused her on numerous occasions and that Lamb threatened that if she told anyone he would do “something bad” to her
- May 24, 2017 – Chris Jespersen School is made aware of Plaintiff’s allegations that David Lamb sexually abused her; school takes no action
- May 30, 2017 – Plaintiff’s parents report David Lamb’s sexual abuse of Plaintiff to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
- June 7, 2017 – David Lamb is arrested by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office
Lamb is currently being held in San Luis Obispo County Jail on $100,000 bail. He has pleaded not guilty to child molestation charges. His jury trial is tentatively set to begin in July.
At his preliminary hearing in February, a sheriff’s detective testified that Lamb admitted to exposing himself to the girl on at least two separate occasions and let her touch him because she was curious about male body parts. The detective said Lamb claimed the girl was “manipulative” and making up the accusations to get back at him for telling her to sit down on the bus.
Lucia Mar Unified School District Superintendent Raynee Daley released the following statement Tuesday in response to the lawsuit:
“Since we first became aware of the charges of child sexual abuse by this bus driver we have cooperated very closely with the family and law enforcement as the investigation moved forward. Student safety is a high priority in our district and we are deeply concerned about the potential impact of these actions on the child. Please understand that personnel, student privacy and due process laws preclude us from commenting further on the specifics of this case.”
The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, released this statement:
“The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education considers student safety a top priority. Any complaints, questions or concerns regarding student safety are taken seriously by all employees. This office fully cooperates with law enforcement regarding complaints of any kind. Because this inquiry is about an active case, any additional comment is not permitted at this time.”
The County of San Luis Obispo and Lamb are also named as defendants.
The lawsuit does not ask for specific monetary damages but does call for a jury trial.
The following video was edited for time and released by the law firms Taylor & Ring and The May Firm. Some viewers may find this video disturbing. Discretion is advised:
