San Francisco, CA – June 27, 2017 – Christopher B. Dolan, founder and Chief Legal Counsel at the Dolan Law Firm, PC, announced that a complaint has been filed against the Central Valley Training Center located in Fresno, California, for the sexual assault of a student at the facility by another unsupervised student. The complaint alleges that the center, a daycare provider for adults with developmental disabilities, was negligent in its duty to ensure the safety of the son of A.K., the father who filed the complaint and whose name has been abbreviated to protect the identity of his son. The complaint further alleges that the center failed to safeguard the son from foreseeable assault and injury from other students.
“My 18-year old son is a wonderful, loving, and trusting young man. Because of his disability, he functions as a 12-year-old. It was our worst nightmare to learn that he had been raped by another adult student at the center,” A.K. stated. “Our son has been left with a permanent physical injury and to this day requires therapy to address his nightmares, fears and anxiety due to the assault.”
“Centers entrusted with the care of developmentally disabled adults must ensure that procedures and practices are established and followed that keep all students safe and protect them from assault by other students,” stated Dolan. “Fundamental to any center meeting this standard is ensuring that students with a known history of sexual aggression should never to be left alone with other students.”
As alleged in the complaint, on November 1, 2015, defendant Clifton Fuller, then a 36-year old student at the facility with a history of engaging in sexual relations with other male students, asked A.K.’s son to enter a bathroom at the center with him. Despite a policy that prohibited students from using bathroom facilities in groups combined with specific knowledge that Fuller had previously engaged in inappropriate actions of a sexual nature with other male students, Central Valley Training Center did not supervise Fuller and allowed him to be alone with the son in the bathroom. Fuller entered the bathroom with the son, entering the same stall as the son. Fuller forcibly anally raped the son who contracted anal herpes. The son suffered, and continues to suffer, serious emotional distress from the assault requiring ongoing counseling and therapy.
A copy of the complaint, filed in California court in Fresno County on June 16, 2017, is being served on defendants, can be accessed here. For further information on the case and media inquiries, please contact Dolan Law Firm attorney Aimee Kirby at 415-636-8160.
About the Dolan Law Firm
The Dolan Law Firm represents parents and guardians of children who suffered abuse at their school. We understand the sensitive nature of these cases and work closely with our clients to obtain just compensation and require the school districts and educational facilities to undertake action to prevent other children from being abused in the future.
With offices in San Francisco, Oakland and Marin, the Dolan Law Firm represents clients in cases involving abuse of special needs students; personal injury; car, Uber, motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian accidents; elder abuse and neglect; employee rights and wrongful termination; whistleblower; and civil and LGBT rights claims.
