South Bay High School District Settles in Sexual Abuse Lawsuit From Former Student Athlete

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District has agreed to pay a former student track star $3.4 million after she filed a lawsuit for the alleged sexual abuse she endured as a high schooler from an assistant coach. 

A woman in her 30s, who identified as “Jane Doe” in the suit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, alleged that a former Los Gatos High School assistant track coach sexually abused her for more than three years.

In the suit, the former student said Chioke “Chee” Robinson began grooming her when she was a 14-year-old freshman in 1999, and began having sex with her when she was 15. 

Doe alleges that the school district enabled this abuse. Doe said her mother informed school administrators after finding a love letter from Robinson and a pregnancy test in her trash can in 1999, but Robinson was not disciplined until he was fired in 2001.

Another former student athlete testified that she told former head coach Willie Harmatz in 1998 that Robinson made her uncomfortable, but there was no action. Harmatz is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.

“When another student disclosed that she had seen Robinson abusing Jane, Harmatz went to the girl’s house and threatened to ruin her athletic career if she didn’t stop ‘lying’ about Robinson, according to sworn testimony from the student,” Doe’s attorney Lauren Cerri said in a statement. “Harmatz should have taken steps to protect this student but he instead covered up the brewing scandal.”

All the while, Doe said her dreams of becoming a professional track star were shattered. She previously broke all records in the high jump for her age group in the Junior Olympics, and was the second-best high jumper in California at just 11 years old. She quit the high school track team in her Junior year of high school.

“I was a popular kid in high school,” Doe said. “I had a lot of friends but Robinson took control of my life by alienating me from my family and friends. It happened very quickly — everyone you know becomes a stranger because you’re no longer a part of them and they’re no longer a part of you. So then it was just him.”

Three years ago, Robinson was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting four girls while working at Los Gatos and Piedmont Hills high schools over the course of 12 years. He faces 19 charges relating to sexual assault against numerous minors, including Doe. 

Doe and others were allowed to pursue legal action against the school district despite the abuse occurring in the late 1990s thanks to Assembly Bill 218, which permits older sexual abuse cases to be reviewed until December 2022. 

“The window on these cases is closing,” Cerri said in a statement. “It’s imperative that sexual abuse victims come forward now.”

The school district said in a statement that it hopes this settlement agreement “will help bring closure for everyone involved in this unfortunate situation.”

The district said it pursued a settlement to avoid expensive litigation fees and to continue to “focus on its mission of providing safe and quality education for its students.”

“The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union School District works closely with students and staff to ensure that safety policies and procedures are in place to educate and prevent such actions from occurring in the future,” the district said.

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