Sonora High district agrees to $3.5M settlement over abuse by former girls basketball coach
The Sonora Union High School District has agreed to a $3.5 million settlement with a former student over sexual abuse by her basketball coach.
The agreement ended a civil trial in Tuolumne Superior Court over the district’s handling of the complaints. They involved ex-coach Amy Emerald, who pleaded guilty in a separate criminal case in 2020. She has completed her sentence of two years and eight months in state prison.
The payment will come from a statewide school insurance pool rather than district funds, the Union Democrat newspaper reported Friday.
Prosecutors said Emerald, also known as Amy Santos, abused the student frequently between 2011 and 2015. The victim was on Sonora High’s girls varsity team the entire time.
Wildcat teammates reported abuse
The suit claimed that the district staff failed repeatedly to act on complaints about Emerald. Some of them came from teammates who witnessed inappropriate behavior.
The settlement was reached on the fourth day of testimony before a jury.
The district “is pleased a resolution could be reached in this matter,” Superintendent Ed Pelfrey said in a written statement to the Union Democrat. “As we look forward to the upcoming school year and welcoming our students and staff back to campus next month, we want to confirm that we are wholly dedicated to creating and maintaining a community that supports the health and safety of our students and staff.”
School administration ‘looked the other way’
The district made the motion for the settlement but did not admit liability, the plaintiff’s law firm told The Modesto Bee by email Monday. The firm is Lewis & Llewellyn, based in San Francisco. Lead trial counsel Ryan Erickson commented further:
“Plaintiff presented testimony from 20 witnesses, who told the story of a dysfunctional school administration that repeatedly looked the other way when multiple students, and other members of the community, bravely came forward and reported witnessing sexually inappropriate actions by Amy Emerald toward the plaintiff. The district’s own documents and testimony confirmed the systematic failures that enabled the abuse to occur and continue for years.”
Bee archives show that Emerald herself played basketball for the Sonora High Wildcats in the 1990s. She was named coach of the sophomore girls team in 2001 and the varsity team in 2011.
