$2.5-Million Jury Award Upheld in Molestation Case

An Orange County judge on Friday upheld a $2.5-million jury award for a student sexually abused for years by a former Cypress High School teacher but reduced the judgment her parents received for emotional distress.

Superior Court Judge Francisco Firmat lowered the award to the girl’s parents from $550,000 to $100,000 but kept in place an additional $90,000 award for economic damages.

The jury had found the former teacher, Clifford Scofield, 65% liable and Anaheim Union High School District, which governs Cypress High, 35% liable. In an earlier criminal case, Scofield, 57, a once-popular science teacher and track coach, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of child molestation and served 13 months in prison.

In the civil case, which ended in August, a jury found both Scofield and the school district liable for the four-year-long abuse of Desiree Fritz, who was 13 when it started.

After Friday’s decision, Fritz, now 19, hugged her lawyer, Sharon L. Cusic of Newport Beach, and said that she was relieved by the verdict. Stuart L. Wallach of Newport Beach, attorney for Fritz’s parents, did not like the ruling reducing his clients’ award. He called the jury verdict appropriate.

The district’s lawyer, Ric Ottaiano, said he was disappointed in Friday’s ruling because the evidence didn’t support a finding that the district knew the sexual molestation was taking place.

Ottaiano said the district will consider an appeal.

During the trial, Fritz’s lawyer had argued that the school was liable because several teachers and a school principal had seen Scofield with the student in a car, a violation of school policy. Teachers also had seen the two leaving school grounds together.

The school district’s portion of the total award amounts to nearly $1 million for Fritz and $66,500 for her parents. Should Scofield be unable to pay his share of the economic damages, the school district would have to cover that amount.

Fritz’s parents can accept the ruling or request a new trial.