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Assistant principals charged after witholding sex assault complaints of 3 students for FIVE months

David Shenhan Yang and Natasha Harris have been charged with felony child abuse as well as two counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect

RIALTO, CALIFORNIA: Two assistant principals in Rialto are facing charges after they allegedly failed to report repeated sexual assault of three students by a 17-year-old male student inside the school campus last year. The San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office said that David Shenhan Yang, 38, and Natasha Harris, 37, of Carter High School have been charged with felony child abuse for failing to report the incidents, as well two counts of failure to report child abuse or neglect.

Both were arrested on Wednesday, February 23, after an investigation was launched nearly a week ago following the accusations made by the three female students – two of whom were 15-year-old and one was 16 at the time of the incident. According to a criminal complaint, the victims had informed Yang and Harris about the abuse long back. One of the female students had complained about it in September 2021, while another one had approached them in November of the same year. However, no action was taken. They reportedly did not even inform the school authorities or law enforcement about it.

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The complaint noted that “no notification was made to the Rialto Police Department until February 16th”. However, now the staffers have been held on $150,000 bail each for their alleged negligence. They face up to six years of imprisonment. District Attorney Jason Anderson said, “In this case, the Assistant Principals' failure to report sexual assault on their campus erodes the trust that students and parents alike should have regarding the safety and protection of all the children in their care. Their failure as mandated reporters to notify law enforcement lead to further victimization of two students, and the sexual assault of a third victim, which was preventable.”

One of the victims’ parents spoke with ABC7 and accused the school for all the mishaps. The victim's mother Stephanie Olvera said, “My daughter is being kept out of school right now and these people are still here while my daughter is losing on her education, and they are trying to make it seem as if she is a liar. I'm the one that called police because they failed to do so.”

Meanwhile, a separate probe has been initiated on the unnamed suspect, who has been slapped with sexual battery charges. As per police, the accused, who is still a student of the school, has been cited and released to his parents. After the news broke out, the Rialto Unified School District said in a statement that “the District will continue its internal investigation until all the facts related to this matter are brought to light. We will also continue to work with local authorities as they conduct their own investigation.”

The case has attracted a lot of attention online as well with a user tweeting, “The audacity of the school district to start off their statement with ‘The safety and well-being of students is our number one priority.’” Another user slammed, “Put them in jail and throw away the key.”

“THIS is why video cameras need to be installed in all public school classrooms! Any teacher, principal, board member or union rep that pushes back on this do so because they have something to HIDE! Defund police? DEFUND OUBLIC SCHOOLS until REFORM is provided!” the third user added.