Parents seek $2.5M from school district after teacher is accused of molesting their son
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brittany Zamora is accused of performing sexual acts on a 13-year-old boy. (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office)
The parents of a 13-year-old Arizona boy who was allegedly molested by a female teacher plan to sue their son’s school district for $2.5 million, claiming the district failed to properly report the relationship.
The parents on Monday filed a notice of claim against the district, signaling their intention of filing a lawsuit, Fox 10 in Phoenix reported.
The teacher, Brittany Zamora, 27, was arrested in March on multiple charges, including felony sexual conduct with a minor and molesting a child.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail, with her next court appearance scheduled for Wednesday, the Arizona Republic reported. A trial is set to begin in November, the report said.
In their filing, the parents claim that the Liberty Elementary School District could have prevented the alleged molestation, Fox 10 reported. Their attorney says a majority of the alleged sexual activity between the teacher and student occurred after the school was alerted about the alleged relationship, the report said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It was preventable,” Tempe attorney Michael Medina said, according to the Republic. "We want to hold the school district accountable so this never happens again in the future."
“It was preventable. We want to hold the school district accountable so this never happens again in the future."
Three other students at Las Bristas Academy Elementary School in the West Valley area near Phoenix had expressed concern about the relationship in February and submitted written statements, the Republic reported. They alleged that Zamora was “dating” the student, gave him favorable treatment in class, and gave him “warnings” when other students received detention, the report said.
Richard Rundhaug, the school district’s acting superintendent, told the Republic in a previous interview that district officials had investigated the other students’ claims, and had given Zamora specific instructions designed to end favorable treatment of the student in question.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Zamora was arrested in March, after the school’s principal contacted police. Reports said the boy’s parents had found graphic Instagram messages between the teacher and student, describing specific sexual acts.
Zamora also sent the boy photos of herself, naked or wearing lingerie, according to court records viewed by the Republic.
The parents’ suspicions were raised after they began monitoring their sons’ communications using Sentry Parental Control, a cellphone monitoring application, the newspaper reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this story.