Top School Officials Put Prolific Illinois Perpetrator in Care of La Habra High School Students
(Costa Mesa, CA) – Tuesday in Costa Mesa, on behalf of a courageous survivor, attorneys from Jeff Anderson & Associates and Greenberg Gross, as well as sexual assault survivors and advocates will:
- Reveal and discuss a new lawsuit brought against Fullerton Joint Union High School District under the new California Child Victims Act (AB 218) for childhood sexual assault by Charles “Chuck” Ritz III, a math teacher, soccer coach, and surf club advisor at La Habra High School from 1986 to 2016.
- Reveal and discuss how La Habra High School officials failed to adequately investigate Ritz and his history as a teacher at Lake Bluff Junior High in Illinois, where he sexually assaulted multiple students between 1975 and 1985. It is believed that the Assistant Superintendent at La Habra was aware in the late 1980s that Ritz had “quietly resigned” from his previous position after facing multiple child assault allegations. It is reported that school records and police reports show that Ritz was formally accused by at least four students before he came to La Habra High School.
- Reveal and discuss how Ritz used his position at La Habra High School to systematically target, groom, and assault numerous kids on- and off-campus; some of his tactics included overnight surfing club outings designed to isolate students off-campus, as well as orchestrating and enabling the sexual assault of minors by at least one other adult.
- Highlight that Ritz has been able to keep his California Teaching Credentials despite pleading guilty in 2017 to public indecency involving students in Waukegan (Illinois) in 1985. Prior to the implementation of the California Child Victims Act, further child sexual assault charges against Ritz have been barred by the statute of limitations.
- Discuss the historic California Child Victims Act, a new law that extends the statute of limitations and provides a three-year window for childhood sexual assault survivors to bring lawsuits in cases that were previously barred by the statute of limitations, no matter when the assault occurred or the current age of the survivor.
- Encourage childhood sexual assault survivors to come forward confidentially under the California Child Victims Act (AB 218).
When
Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 11:00 AM (PT)
Where
Greenberg Gross LLP
650 Town Center Drive
Suite 1700
Costa Mesa, California 92626
The press conference will be live-streamed via YouTube and on Facebook.
Spanish-speaking staff will be present and available at this event.