Lawsuit: Beaverton Schools failed to investigate teacher

PORTLAND — A former student from Aloha High School is suing the Beaverton School District after a teacher was convicted of sending her sexually explicit photos and videos of himself.

The suit, which asks for more than $2 million in damages, says the district failed to monitor the teacher’s communications with students and didn’t take action even after it became aware of some of the teacher’s troubling behavior, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

In March, Timothy Yee, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of luring a minor. He received 120 days in jail, three years of probation, is required to register as a sex offender and must undergo sex offender treatment. Yee admitted as part of a plea deal to sending a 16-year-old student naked photos of himself and a video of himself engaged in a sexual act.

In April, the girl told her friends who told their parents about Yee’s comments and photos in 2018, according to a probable cause affidavit.

In a recorded phone call, Yee asked the girl to keep quiet, according to the affidavit. Yee was arrested and admitted to what he had done, records show.

In the lawsuit, filed Monday, Greenawald and Riddell alleged that Yee had electronic communications with multiple students across multiple social media platforms, none of which included district oversight or that of parents or guardians.

In August 2018, an Aloha High School teacher told district administrators that Yee had been engaging in questionable behavior with students over social media, according to the suit. It wasn’t until a second teacher complained that an investigation was initiated, the suit says.

The school district said it was unable to comment on pending litigation.