A class action lawsuit has been filed against Clovis Unified School District alleging neglect by school personnel and sexual abuse committed by a former teacher, Neng Yang, who was later convicted of making child pornography.

Neng Yang

Attorneys at Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala PLLC, a firm based in Seattle, filed the lawsuit last week. They are representing five women Yang allegedly abused between 1998 and 2005.

He is serving a 38-year sentence for producing child pornography after pleading guilty to charges in March 2014.

The women were in Yang’s second-grade class at Fancher Creek Elementary School — seven and eight years old at the time of the alleged abuse.

The abuse included groping, fondling, and coercing some students into oral sex, which he allegedly referred to as a “lollipop game”, according to a PCVA news release.

“Clovis Unified has not been served with the lawsuit you are asking about,” said a district spokesperson said in a statement to GV Wire. “If/when we do, we will examine the allegations it contains and respond accordingly.”

Clovis Unified “Protected this Predator” Said One Plaintiff

It is alleged that the school district and Fancher Creek Elementary received complaints about Yang’s abuse for years.

Three of the plaintiffs have said they wish to publicly speak out about the situation.

One plaintiff, Tiffany Thrailkill, told the Fancher Creek principal, vice principal, and school counselor about Yang’s abuse in 1998, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In response, school officials accused Thrailkill of lying and referred her for psychological treatment, according to the lawsuit.

Another plaintiff, Samantha Muñoz, reportedly faced a similar situation.

School officials allegedly interrogated Muñoz and encouraged her to stay silent after another teacher saw Yang showing her child pornography. The school left her in the classroom, Muñoz said.

She was shocked to discover that another student claimed to have reported Yang years prior.

“Clovis Unified was protecting this predator,” Muñoz told the LA Times. “They continued to have him teaching at that school knowing he was (assaulting students).”

The law requires school personnel to report crimes as mandated reporters.

Yang Arrested on Multiple Counts of Sexual Abuse

Clovis Unified terminated Neng Yang in 2012 after police discovered videos of him molesting a minor student on his cell phone.

He was charged with 45 counts of sexual abuse of a minor in Fresno Superior Court.

Later, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California indicted him on four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The Clovis Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.

“Instead of reporting Yang and protecting their students, it appears school officials blamed the girls, looked the other way, and enabled Yang to abuse their students for over a decade,” said Jason Amala, an attorney at PCVA Law.

“Several employees are still here that assisted with that investigation. At this time, we do not wish to speak further on that closed case,” said Clovis police spokesperson Ty Wood.