Chula Vista Elementary School District is the largest elementary district in California, with more than 40 schools in Chula Vista and the South Bay. Our office is in Chula Vista. If your child, or you as a child, were abused by a district employee, here is the public record and what it means.
The Wolf Canyon and Feaster case
In late 2012 a first-grade teacher at Wolf Canyon Elementary, who had previously taught at Feaster Charter School, was arrested on charges involving the sexual exploitation of children, including a former Feaster student from the 2004–05 school year. On July 24, 2015, after conviction on 33 felony counts including lewd acts on a child and possession of child pornography, he was sentenced to 125 years in prison. The case was investigated with federal agents because much of the exploitation took place online.
What a case against an elementary district involves
Young children rarely report abuse in words. The warning signs an elementary school is expected to act on are different: a teacher who seeks time alone with particular children, who photographs students, who communicates with them outside school, or whose conduct draws comments from other staff. Every teacher, aide, and administrator is a mandated reporter, and a district that received a complaint, or whose staff saw conduct that should have prompted one, can be responsible for what followed.
Why the district is responsible
The district is responsible when the adults in charge knew, or should have known, that an employee was a danger to students and did not act: a principal who got a complaint and did nothing, a teacher who saw something and did not report it, a district that hired someone without checking. Those failures are what a case is built on. If you are 40 or older and the abuse happened before 2024, a 2026 law also requires stronger proof against a public school district: clear and convincing evidence that the district actually knew of the misconduct and failed to act. How a claim against a school district works.
Is it too late?
Probably not. If the abuse happened before 2024, you can usually file until you turn 40, or within a few years of realizing as an adult that the abuse caused harm you are living with now (that window is five years today; a law signed in 2026 shortens it to three years starting January 1, 2027). If the abuse happened on or after January 1, 2024, there is no deadline at all. You do not have to file a government claim first. More on deadlines.
Who may have a claim
Anyone abused as a student by a Chula Vista Elementary employee or volunteer, at any of the district’s schools or in its after-school and extended day programs, at any time. Parents can bring a claim on behalf of a child now; adults abused years ago can bring their own.
Talk to us
If you or your child was abused by an employee of this district, call 877-428-4544 any time. The conversation is private and free, cases are filed under a Doe name, and there is no attorney fee and no costs unless we recover.
Sources
The cases described on this page are drawn from court records and news reports. They are not our cases, and past results do not predict the outcome of any claim. This page is general information as of October 2026, not legal advice.
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We answer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no cost and no obligation. Nothing is filed without your permission, and nothing you tell us leaves this office.
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