The Redlands Unified School District has settled for $2.25 million its second sexual abuse lawsuit against former English teacher, soccer coach, and convicted sex offender Laura Whitehurst.
Teacher Abused Students, Gave Birth To One
A Southern California school district will pay $2.25 million to settle the latest lawsuit involving a teacher who became pregnant by one of at least two students she was accused of sexually abusing.
The settlement brings the total amount paid by Redlands Unified School District to Laura Whitehurst’s victims to $8.25 million since her arrest in 2013, the Southern California News Group reported.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021 by a former Redlands High School student, claimed Whitehurst preyed on him in 2007 and 2008, when he was just 14 years old, according to the plaintiff’s attorney.
Whitehurst later admitted to having sex with him as much as 15 times inside her San Bernardino classroom and at her apartment.
Now, at 30, the victim has been awarded $2.25 million for the pain and trauma Whitehurst inflicted on him while school administrators allegedly looked the other way.
The English teacher and soccer coach pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with three former students, with one of whom she shares a baby.
At one point, an employee sent out an email when Whitehurst gave birth to the student’s child, featuring a picture of Whitehurst with the newborn girl and the minor student seated just behind her in the hospital room.
School staff reportedly did not contact the boy’s parents or alert law enforcement after some staff circulated the picture.
It wasn’t until the boy’s mother, who suspected something was afoot with Whitehurst, raised her concerns to local police. The school district ultimately awarded that victim $6 million in 2016.
Whitehurst was initially charged with 41 felony counts of unlawful sex with a minor, according to The San Bernardino Sun. The then-28-year-old teacher was ordered to forfeit her teaching credentials and register as a sex offender, in addition to her six-month jail sentence.
According to CBS, the baby girl’s 17-year-old father reportedly spoke out against Whitehurst’s plea deal, telling a judge: “Whitehurst’s criminal actions against me have scarred me emotionally and will affect every relationship I have for the rest of my life.”
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