MESA, Ariz. — A notice of claim submitted on behalf of a former student at a Mesa high school is seeking recompense after a teacher was accused of sexual abuse.
The notice of claim alleges that Alan Grantham, a former math teacher and athletic coach at Red Mountain High School, had an inappropriate relationship with the student, whom he met in her sophomore year in 2012.
The notice of claim says the victim was nearly 16 when the sexual relationship began.
Several other school staff members heard rumors about the relationship – and the victim even told some of them about it – but nobody reported the inappropriate behavior to police, according to the notice of claim.
The notice of claim says another teacher at the school even sent the girl a nude picture, and a former security guard had a "flirtatious relationship" with her.
The school resource officer allegedly looked into the relationship after hearing the rumors, following the student when she drove from the school to Grantham's house.
The notice of claim says the officer waited for the girl to leave, then confronted her later when the student returned to school by saying, "I know what's going on and it needs to stop." But she did not report what she saw, the document claims.
Mesa police would later investigate Grantham for sexual conduct with a minor after his alleged relationship with the student came to light in 2014.
According to a statement from Mesa Public Schools, police initially contacted Red Mountain High School about an investigation into Grantham in 2014. An assistant principal was asked to help Mesa PD by questioning Grantham.
The district said it was advised by an officer the rumor was not credible, "so neither the school nor district administration took further steps," according to the district.
In 2016, the investigation began again, Mesa police said. Investigators submitted charges against Grantham to the country attorney. Mesa PD says they continued the investigation well into 2019.
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office never prosecuted Grantham, citing "no reasonable likelihood of conviction."
According to Mesa Public Schools, when administrators learned about the 2016 investigation into Grantham's alleged inappropriate behavior with a minor, he was " assigned to home, and he subsequently resigned."
The notice of claim cites as evidence a letter to the girl's father from an attorney for the school district. It shows that Grantham resigned November 8, 2016, after a district investigation found that he "violated established professional boundaries between a teacher and a student."
The alleged victim's attorney Sean Woods claims the school district did not follow up like they should have.
"The school district has to say, 'Hey, if there's these rumors happening, there's something to it and we have to follow up on it," Woods said. "There's a heightened, in my opinion, scrutiny that there should be with the teachers and employees of the school district."
The notice of claim says the victim will settle for $1,250,000.
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