DA dismisses sex abuse case against fired Oakland teacher

OAKLAND Prosecutors have dismissed the child sex abuse episode against a former coach at Oakland School of the Arts ending a saga that spanned years and included a seven-figure lawsuit settlement against the school Jeremy Taylor had been charged with committing a lewd act upon a child years or younger along with enhancements alleging substantial sexual contact as well as selecting a vulnerable victim and being in a position of trust But in a March court hearing prosecutors dismissed the incident citing lack of corroborating evidence beyond the single alleged victim s complaint The occurrence was dismissed amid an ongoing dispute with the OSA which had been ordered by a judge to explain why it was lagging in compliance with a subpoena to produce records related to Taylor and the alleged victim On March the day the order to show cause was to be heard the Alameda County District Attorney s Office dismissed the development Taylor s lawyer Liz Grossman didn t respond to multiple attempts to reach her by phone She communicated KQED that Taylor has consistently been steadfast in his innocence and is grateful that justice has at last been obtained against these false and ruinous statements The alleged victim known only as Jane Doe in court records spoke at the March hearing referring to Taylor as a sexual abuser who brainwashed her and that she still struggles with trauma self-abuse and trust issues to this day I desire the unhealthy bond we once had I loved this man smiled and was genuinely okay with him raping me over and over and over again Doe explained in court I hate myself that I desired to be with him in that way and make him happy make him proud I hate myself that I still care about him Prosecutors allege that Taylor molested the victim on an ongoing basis from September to September when Taylor was - years old Police didn t start analyzing him until last year when the alleged victim confided in a friend what had happened and she called the Oakland Police Department In her March message the girl reported that she resented her friend for coming forward to police and hadn t desired the circumstance to be prosecuted She revealed her friend s betrayal and abandonment still breaks me to this day and that she d been negatively affected by media coverage of the affair Taylor remained with the school for years after the alleged abuse and was fired in after a third-party research ascertained he had engaged in grooming behavior with multiple students and had a sexual relationship with one scholar KQED communicated The investigators used a lower legal standard than jurors are given for criminal trials During the syllabus of the development Grossman requested a wide range of documentation related to OSA records the alleged victim s mental physical condition her email communication with Taylor and her hospital records according to court filings A judge approved almost all of them In December Alameda County Judge David Pereda ordered the charter school to demonstrate why it was not manageable to produce a litany of additional records including which classes Taylor taught administrator emails and copies of everything the school had turned over to Oakland police The records had been subpoenaed months earlier the judge s order revealed In a separate occurrence the girl sued OSA and received a seven-figure settlement KQED announced Taylor had been warned by staff for having private meetings with students during the time of the alleged abuse according to court records Police stated in court filings that they talked to students who revealed he would offer their peers coffee or hugs and one saw the name of a participant written in condensation inside Taylor s wagon In May a school administrator communicated Taylor to stop counseling students in private meetings Taylor responded with a memo stating he sought to give students a safe space to talk about family issues eating disorders self-harm behavior and the like according to police This warning was repeated in September after a trainee emailed Taylor seeking to meet with him for lunch and stating she missed him Two weeks after that the mother of another learner the same girl whose name was allegedly written in condensation on the window of Taylor s car pulled her out of his math class When the girl apologized Taylor allegedly responded that she and him could discuss it but he will insist however that it be in person followed by a smiley face emoji The following year he emailed the same girl asking for pictures of her to properly wallpaper his room according to police The school which teaches students from th to th grades disclosed a population announcement saying it strives to ensure a safe supportive and discrimination-free learning climate in which students can thrive