X.M.

FACTS

In March 2019, X.M. sued HUSD and Pedro Martinez, a janitor at Maple

Elementary School, where X.M. was a first grader at the time of the alleged abuse. X.M.

claims that on multiple occasions during the fall of 2018, Martinez sexually molested him

in campus bathrooms and classrooms during school hours. X.M.’s complaint also alleges

3 the abuse could have been avoided had HUSD not covered up prior reports of sexual

assault against Martinez or ignored evidence that its sexual harassment policies were

deficient.

According to the complaint, Martinez would lure X.M. and other young students

into empty classrooms with sweets and videos in an effort to get them to sit on his lap and

engage in sexually inappropriate conduct. HUSD employees were aware this was going

on but failed to properly supervise Martinez. The complaint further alleges HUSD

employees knew Martinez had been accused of molesting another first grade student two

years earlier, in 2016. When the student’s parents told school officials that their daughter

said Martinez had assaulted her in the bathroom, the officials responded that children

tend to make up these types of stories to get out of going to…