Former Peoria Unified student reportedly seeks $20M to settle sex scandal claim
A former high school student notified the Peoria Unified School District of his intention to file a lawsuit related to a high-profile sex scandal.
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A former high school student notified the Peoria Unified School District of his intention to file a lawsuit related to a high-profile sex scandal.
According to 12News, the former Centennial High School student is seeking $20 million to settle his claim that the district failed to protect him from sexual abuse.
District officials declined an interview request Tuesday from KTAR News 92.3 FM. They confirmed they received a notice of claim in January and said they are “responding accordingly.”
Under state law, anybody who wants to sue a government entity must first file a notice of claim.
The allegations in the student’s claim are related to a high-profile sex scandal involving two former teachers, according to 12News.
Angela Burlaka and Haley Beck are accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a male student while they were teaching at Centennial High School.
Burlaka, 47, surrendered her teaching certification on Jan. 26, the same day the district terminated her. Meanwhile, the district fired Beck, 27, on March 26 for violating its sexual harassment policy.
Why is Peoria Unified facing possible lawsuit related to sex scandal?
Peoria Unified officials have been under fire for how they responded to the allegations against the teachers and possibly failing to follow the state’s mandatory reporting laws.
And now, the student is accusing the district of ignoring warning signs while the alleged misconduct was ongoing, according to 12News.
Burlaka, Beck and several current and former district leaders are named in the notice of claim, the Phoenix TV station reported.
The case drew national attention because Beck is the sister of popular content creator Noah Beck, who has more than 30 million TikTok followers.
On May 28, the Peoria Police Department served Peoria Unified with a search warrant for documents related to an investigation into the allegations.
The district then filed a motion asking a judge to review the scope of the warrant and requesting an extension to produce the documents.
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Comments
1 Comments
Excuse me while I have a private chuckle. In my day I've raised a few football players of my own, and as we know, these, big, overgrown kids are checking out just about all females for more than conversation prior to reaching 18 years of age. "The district failed to protect him from sexual abuse." Only a lawyer could dream up that phrase. We're not discussing a small child being groomed and abused by an adult - we're talking about a big, strong athlete willfully participating in sexual conduct with a woman. The poor taxpayers will end up handing over a lot of money to this willing participant, just to make the whole thing finally go away. Maybe administrators and school boards will learn at last, that this behavior cannot be swept under the rug and forgotten.