Former Leigh High School student says teacher forced her to get abortion
(KRON) — A former Leigh High School student is suing a South Bay school district and a teacher who she claims impregnated her when she was 15. The woman, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe,” filed a civil lawsuit this week against Campbell Union High School District and Leigh High School school teacher Shawn Thomas.
Thomas, 56, of Los Gatos, forced Jane Doe to receive an abortion after she became pregnant with his baby in 2003, according to the lawsuit. She was 15 years old at the time. The woman is now in her mid-30s and she recently contacted law enforcement authorities for the first time, San Jose police said.
In 2002, Jane Doe was a LHS freshman. Thomas used his position as a teacher to “gain access to her, groom her for his sexual advances, and rape/sexually assault her numerous times including on school grounds in his portable classroom and a storage room within the boys’ locker room,” the lawsuit states.
Thomas’ wife was the dean of Leigh High School at the time, attorneys said.
Thomas was in charge of the school’s Opportunity Program, a class for “troubled youth on track to transfer from LHS to a continuation school,” the lawsuit writes. Jane Doe’s parents were in the middle of a divorce. Jane Doe began receiving “special attention” from her teacher when he asked about her personal and family life, took walks around the football field, and requested that she wear a skirt to school, attorneys said.
The woman’s attorneys claim that, during school hours, Thomas would drive Jane Doe to his home to engage in unlawful sex. The lawsuit states, “He also isolated Plaintiff in his portable classroom behind a locked door where he would engage in digital penetration and sexual intercourse with her. On one occasion, while Thomas was engaging in sexual intercourse with Plaintiff alone in his portable classroom, Thomas’ wife … discovered Plaintiff alone with Thomas in his classroom. Thomas and Plaintiff abruptly stopped having sex because they saw her approaching.”
After Jane Doe’s abortion in the spring of 2003, she told the dean about what happened. The dean and other school officials never reported the suspected abuse to CPS or law enforcement, attorneys claim.
Los Gatos ‘Party Mom’ pleads not guilty to slew of new charges
Thomas continued teaching at the school for years. He was placed on administrative leave just last month.
Thomas is also facing criminal rape charges for the 2002 and 2003 incidents. He was arrested by San Jose police in March and booked into jail.
At the time of his arrest, Thomas was working as a teacher at Leigh High School and a football coach and a track and field coach at Los Gatos High School, according to the San Jose Police Department.
School district superintendent Robert Bravo sent a letter to the Leigh High School community, writing, “On Friday, March 22, 2024, Leigh High School and Campbell Union High School District were made aware that teacher Shawn Thomas was arrested by the San Jose Police Department for allegations of misconduct reported to have taken place approximately twenty years ago. The District is actively cooperating with the investigation. The teacher has been placed on administrative leave and directed not to have student or staff contact of any kind. The safety and well-being of our students are of paramount importance to us, and any form of
misconduct is taken extremely seriously.”
Thomas was out of custody as of Thursday afternoon, jail inmate records show.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
