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Wednesday, April 24, 2024 | Back issues
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The Worst Principal|in the World?

FRESNO, Calif. (CN) - An elementary school principal masturbated in front of a girl in his office, ejaculated onto another girl, and groped at least three other students, and when he was found out he shot himself, two families claim in court.

In separate federal complaints, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 claim that Lance Clement, former principal and superintendent of Orange Center Elementary School District in Fresno, repeatedly molested them during a two-year period.

Clement came to the attention of law enforcement in June this year when a school employee reported seeing him in his office with a female student with the lights off. As Fresno County sheriff's deputies approached his house to serve a search warrant on the morning of June 7, they heard a shot inside and discovered that Clement had killed himself, according to the Fresno Bee.

Now, three months later, the two girls sued Clement's estate and the school district on allegations of sexual battery, false imprisonment, negligence and civil rights violations.

Doe 1, who was 10 years old at the time, claims Clement called her into his office 15 to 20 times. Clement told the school he was helping her with her school work, according to the complaint.

During these encounters, Clement would close the door and offer Doe 1 gifts, including a Playstation Portable, an iPod and snacks, and touched her groin, buttocks and breasts, according to the complaint.

Clement always hugged Doe 1 goodbye, slapped her buttocks as she left his office, and sometimes told her, "I love you," she says in the complaint.

Jane Doe 2, who was 14 and 15 years old at the time, says she was also called in to Clement's office many times throughout her 7th and 8th grade years at Orange Center Elementary School.

After touching Doe 2's private areas, "Clement would unbuckle his belt and unzip his pants, insert his hand inside his pants, and touch and rub his penis. Defendant Lance Clement would then masturbate and force plaintiff Jane Doe 2 to observe. As he masturbated, defendant Lance Clement would then instruct Jane Doe 2 to touch her vagina by stating to her to touch herself 'down there,' while simultaneously looking at Jane Doe 2's vaginal area," Doe 2's complaint states.

"On at least one occasion, defendant Lance Clement masturbated for several minutes, accompanied by groaning and heavy breathing, and ejaculated," according to the complaint.

Clement often referred to her as a "bitch" and as his "number one girl," Doe 2 says.

Both girls claim that they were not the only ones who were sexually assaulted by Clement. They cite a third student, 13, who was repeatedly called to Clement's office and subjected to his unwanted advances.

"On at least three occasions, defendant Lance Clement forcefully pushed the student over his desk, and as she was bent over at the waist, he would rub his genitals on her buttocks. As he was doing so, he would cover the student's mouth with his hand. On two of the three occasions in which this occurred, defendant Lance Clement ejaculated on the student," the complaint states.

To keep the girl quiet about the assaults, Clement threatened her family and offered to buy her an iPod, candy, food, and other items, the complaint states.

The girls say that as a consequence of Clement's regular summoning of female students to his office, it became common knowledge amongst teachers, staff and the school district's board of trustees that he was engaging in this behavior, but no one reported it.

They seek punitive damages.

They are represented by Jacob Rivas.

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