The Pomona Unified School District this week announced a pair of settlements in the final two of a series of lawsuits alleging inappropriate conduct by former coaches against eight women while they were students at Pomona High School in the 1990s.
The district agreed on a total of $25 million to settle the two lawsuits – $7 million for one lawsuit and $18 million to be divided among three plaintiffs in a second – during closed session at a Board of Education meeting Wednesday, Sept. 10, district spokesman Ronald Gonzales-Lawrence said.
“The individuals accused of misconduct no longer work for the district,” Gonzales-Lawrence said. “PUSD remains steadfast in its commitment to student safety and well-being, and continues to strengthen policies, procedures, and training to foster a safe, supportive and respectful environment for every student entrusted to our care.”
He also said in a statement that information was limited because the conduct alleged dated back several decades, but in the interest of all parties, “the district determined that settlement was the most appropriate resolution.”
Following the 2019 passage of Assembly Bill 218, a bill that extended the statute of limitations for victims of childhood assault, a series of lawsuits were filed against the Pomona Unified School District by eight women who claimed they were groomed and sexually abused by coaches, one of whom was also a locker room supervisor, on and off campus in the mid- to late 1990s.
The coaches named in the lawsuits were men ranging in age from their 20s to their 40s at the time of the abuse, court documents show.
The women were mostly in their 40s by the time the lawsuits were filed and most graduated high school more than two decades ago. All were involved in either track or cheerleading while they attended Pomona High School.
One of the victims left the school after her freshman year and another moved out of state before graduation.
No criminal charges were ever filed against any PUSD staff members.
In January 2024, a jury awarded $35 million to one of the women, identified as Jane Doe #4, who dropped out of high school before graduation and returned more than a decade later to earn her GED.
Three other women had reached settlements in their lawsuits.
The settlements announced Wednesday were for the final two cases, one involving Jane Does #5, #6 and #7 and the second involving Jane Doe #8. The women were not identified in the lawsuits because they were minors at the time of the abuse.
The former coaches named in the two lawsuits include Brian Crichlow, Herman Hopson, Derick Pugh and Vincent Spirlin.
Jane Doe #8, a track athlete alleged that Hopson and Crichlow groomed her and sexually abused her on campus during her sophomore and junior years, but didn’t come forward until January 2023 when, for the first time, she discovered that her psychological injury as an adult was caused by the abuse and learned that others had been victimized by the two coaches.
In the separate lawsuit, Jane Doe #5 alleged abuse by Crichlow, Jane Doe #6 alleged abuse by Hopson and Pugh and Jane Doe #7 alleged abuse by Sprilin.
All three alleged the coaches invited them into an office inside the boys’ locker room and offered them alcohol, with two also being offered marijuana before they were sexually abused both on and off campus.
Jane Doe #5 said she left Pomona High School after her freshman year because she was embarrassed about being referred to around campus as “Brian Crichlow’s girlfriend.”
Crichlow is entering his 16th year as the head coach of Mt. San Antonio College’s women’s basketball program. Pugh is in his second year coaching men’s basketball at Ventura College. Spirlin coached Ganesha High School’s girls basketball team to a 2020 CIF Southern Section 5A title.
Gonzales-Lawrence said the settlements were agreed upon outside of court by the plaintiffs and their attorneys. Roberta Perlman, PUSD Board of Education president, declined to comment Thursday.
Attorneys representing the victims and the district did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
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