Kevin Cole, a drama production technician who has worked with youth performers in Morgan Hill for several years, was convicted earlier this month of annoying or molesting a child in relation to an incident during a December 2017 dance recital at Sobrato High School.
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Cole, 36, of Newark, faced multiple female accusers during the trial in a San Jose courtroom. Three of these teens’ families said they intend to hold the Morgan Hill Unified School District accountable for failing to notify police about a previous complaint that Cole, who has worked as a contractor and employee of the local district since 2014, inappropriately touched a female student, according to the accusers’ attorney.
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Furthermore, two of Cole’s teen accusers blame the private dance company whose tutelage they were under when they claim Cole touched or spoke to them inappropriately, for “negligence and/or negligent hiring, training (and) supervision,” said the girls’ attorney, Lauren Cerri of the San Jose based Corsiglia, McMahon and Allard law firm.
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During the jury trial for Cole’s criminal charges, six teenage girls testified “to inappropriate language and touching by Mr. Cole at Ann Sobrato High School, over a span of four years,” according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Barbara Cathcart.
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Police investigation reports and testimony described Cole as having repeatedly touched the teens on intimate body parts, over their clothing, while helping them change costumes for dance productions and lessons at Sobrato High. He also interacted flirtatiously with some of the teens, giving piggyback rides and bear hugs and tickling girls while touching them inappropriately, according to the police reports.
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While the DA filed three charges against Cole in relation to three victims, the jury convicted him only of misdemeanor annoying or molesting a child during the Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 productions of “The Nutcracker” at the north Morgan Hill high school, according to Cathcart. The show was produced by South Valley Dance Arts.
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Cole found himself backstage during the performances, offering to assist young female performers with “quick changes” into new costumes between scenes. In doing so, he inappropriately touched a 17-year-old girl, the jury found.
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Morgan Hill Police arrested Cole as he was leaving Sobrato High on Dec. 1, 2017, after a parent called to report the abuse, and after officers took statements from his initial accuser, according to police reports obtained by the Times.
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Cole, working as a lighting and sound tech contractor for the school district at the time, was not supposed to be assisting children with costume changes or have any physical contact with children during performances or rehearsals, Cathcart said. Prior to the “Nutcracker” performances, Cole had been told numerous times by instructors and parents not to help students change and to stay out of the quick-change area.
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On the night of Dec. 1, the father of a female SVDA student told Cole twice to leave the area where the young performers were changing their costumes, according to the police report.
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Typically during SVDA’s quick changes, mothers of the student performers were available to help with the costumes, according to statements from SVDA directors. Cole is not related to any of the students who performed in the 2017 “Nutcracker.”
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Cathcart said the jurors found Cole not guilty of two charges, also filed in relation to backstage behavior at “The Nutcracker,” because they weren’t convinced his touching was sexual in nature.
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“The jury indicated they could not eliminate the possibility of innocent touching during quick changes” for these two teenagers, Cathcart said. “All three charges required sexual intent.”
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Cole faces up to one year in jail on the misdemeanor conviction, Cathcart said. He is also required to register as a sex offender. Cole will be formally sentenced at a hearing in September.
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Three girls who testified in Cole’s criminal trial were not charged as victims because their allegations—some of which date as far back as 2014—fell outside the statute of limitations, Cathcart explained.
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MHUSD under fire
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It was also revealed during the trial that when a female Sobrato student complained of inappropriate touching and language by Cole to school staff in 2014, the district conducted a brief investigation and did not report the accusation to police. The district did not find the teenager’s allegations against Cole credible, according to Cathcart.
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“He was reported before, and the investigation that followed was very questionable,” Cathcart said.
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Cerri added the district’s investigation included only a series of emails between Sobrato drama teacher Christopher deMelo and Cole, in which deMelo described the student’s allegations and Cole defended himself. In one of the emails, deMelo said the student was having a “hissy” because staff didn’t believe her claims about Cole. Cerri added that deMelo and Cole were friends while Cole worked for the school district.
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The student’s allegation was initially reported to Sobrato’s assistant principal at the time, Vera Gomes, who asked deMelo to look into it, according to Cerri.
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Under state law, all school district staff are considered “mandated reporters” of suspected child abuse or neglect, according to the California Department of Education’s website.
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DeMelo testified in Cole’s criminal trial, Cathcart said.
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While Cole was working as an independent contractor approved by the school district at the time of the 2017 incidents, he worked as an employee of Sobrato’s drama department from 2013 to 2016, Cathcart said.
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SVDA representatives have said the school district told them they had no choice but to use Cole as their lighting and sound technician for their productions at Sobrato, an MHUSD-owned facility.
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“The school district had notice from years before of Kevin Cole inappropriately touching students, and did not properly respond,” said Cerri, who is representing three teens in an upcoming civil suit against MHUSD. “School districts are mandatory reporters, and there is no evidence they reported him to police. They did their own investigation. Obviously, he went on to abuse students after that.”
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Cerri said the fact that the school district initiated an investigation shows they had enough “reasonable suspicion” to report the girl’s allegations to police.
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Cerri is not representing the victim of the charge on which Cole was convicted in the criminal trial.
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MHUSD declined to comment or answer questions about the Cole case, “due to potential litigation,” said district spokeswoman Kimberly Beare. The district also declined to confirm what Cole’s previous employment situation was with the district.
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DeMelo did not return a phone call.
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Two of the three victims represented by Cerri are likely to sue SVDA for negligence, Cerri said.
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SVDA teachers, directors and former students noted the company has a solid reputation as a safe and nurturing place for young students.
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“Our studio has and always will have the safety of not only our dancers but our volunteers in mind,” SVDA production manager Tiffany Hoiberg said in a statement. “We have an amazing production team and dedicated teachers that work very hard for that purpose.”
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Former SVDA student Ashley Wellington, now a professional dancer in New York, studied and performed with the small Morgan Hill company when she was in her teens, she said in an email. She said their backstage areas are always “well organized,” with at least 10 mothers on each side of the stage, along with the teachers and production crew.
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“SVDA is by far the most conservative and safe school I have ever danced at,” Wellington said.
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The Corsiglia, McMahon and Allard firm where Cerri is employed has won substantial monetary awards in previous cases where they have sued school districts and other organizations that allegedly shirked their responsibilities to report or prevent child abuse. In March 2017, attorney Robert Allard scored an $8.25 million settlement from MHUSD on behalf of the families of three young girls who were sexually molested by John Loyd, their fifth-grade teacher at Paradise Valley Elementary School in Morgan Hill.
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Loyd, who was convicted of criminal charges in relation to the molestation in his classroom, abused four young girls from 2012 to 2014. He is serving a 40-year prison sentence.
