A local family who says a former school bus driver molested a 9-year-old girl several times on the bus filed a lawsuit Friday.
The girl’s family is suing the Lucia Mar Unified School District, San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, County of San Luis Obispo and the accused, David Kenneth Lamb.
The complaint states the girl, referred to in court documents as Jane Doe, is developmentally disabled and Lamb molested her multiple times in 2017 while acting as her bus driver.
Attorneys Dave Ring with Taylor & Ring and Robert May with The May Firm, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the special needs student, say at least one of the incidents was caught on the school bus’s security camera.
Ring and May further allege the girl told her family about the abuse, the family took their concerns to the school district and requested that Lamb be investigated, but LMUSD "did little or no investigation" and cleared Lamb to keep driving the bus. After that, the lawyers alleged Lamb molested the girl "many more times."
The girl’s guardians also complained to administrators at Jesperson School before contacting the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office, the attorneys said. Investigators arrested Lamb on suspicion of several felonies related to child abuse.
Ring and May say the civil suit seeks to recover damages for the harm done to Jane Doe. The lawyers announced they will be holding a news conference on Tuesday in San Luis Obispo to present video evidence taken aboard the school bus.
The school district has not commented on the lawsuit.
VIDEO: Child molestation case against former school bus driver moving forward
Lamb has been arraigned in court and pleaded not guilty. During a preliminary hearing in February, a detective testified the victim told investigators that Lamb touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions on his bus and had her touch him.
The detective said Lamb also exposed himself, sexually molested the girl, and gave her candy and ChapStick. He also allegedly showed her pornographic videos on his phone ten times over the course of several weeks.
The detective also testified that on June 7, 2017, during an interview at the sheriff’s office, Lamb told him the 9-year-old was manipulative and was making up the accusations to get back at him for a prior time when he told her to sit down on the bus. He reportedly admitted to exposing himself to the girl on at least two separate occasions and also said the girl may have seen pornography on his phone.
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Arroyo Grande school bus driver arrested, accused of molesting 9-year-old
