CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Daily News
By Kelly Goff, Los Angeles Daily News
POSTED: 02/18/14
The family of a teenage girl sexually abused by a former softball coach at a Catholic school in Sylmar has filed a lawsuit naming the school, the archbishop and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, alleging they failed to protect students by not performing background checks on its volunteers.
Epifanio Nevarez, 59, pleaded no contest in September to lewd acts with a child under the age of 14 after the 13-year-old girl reported the abuse an older sibling. She said he had pressured her to take part in a sex club and that there were multiple encounters over a five-month period at Nevarez’s Canyon Country home.
At the time of his arrest, Nevarez was a volunteer softball coach at St. Didacus School. He was sentenced to six years in prison and will register as a sex offender upon his release.
“Our client feels that the school and the archdiocese failed to protect her. They didn’t vet this volunteer, and this was allowed to go on for five months,” said attorney Michael Carrillo, who is representing the girl’s family.
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