Tentative Settlement Reached in Flintridge Private School Sexual Grooming Suit

A tentative settlement has been reached in a lawsuit brought by a woman against Flintridge Preparatory School who alleged that she was sexually abused by an instructor, but a judge said he wants to know the actual status of the accord and when a request for dismissal will be filed.

The plaintiff is now in her mid-20s and is identified only as Jane Doe in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought against the school and former instructor Edward “Toby” Wagstaff, alleging sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, child sex abuse, failure to report suspected child abuse, civil rights violation and negligence. In January, Judge Stephen P. Pfahler placed a stay on the case so the parties could take part in mediation.

On Tuesday, Doe’s lawyers filed court papers with Pfahler notifying him of a “conditional” settlement of the case with the expectation that a request for dismissal will be filed by Sept. 4. No terms were divulged and the judge scheduled a status conference for Oct. 22.

A school representative previously issued a statement regarding the suit, saying that the school became aware in February 2023 of  “troubling” allegations by an alumnus against a former faculty member.

Upon learning of the allegations, Flintridge Prep put the faculty member on administrative leave, contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and thoroughly investigated the matter, after which the faculty member was fired in April 2023, the statement read.

“While we have every reason to believe this is an isolated incident, we have encouraged any current or former student, faculty member, or any other member of our community to come forward and share their concerns,” the statement read. “The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority and we are committed to doing everything we can to provide a safe, inclusive and respectful environment for everyone in our community.”

Famous alumni of Flintridge Preparatory School include attorney Mark Geragos and actors Harry Hamlin of “L.A. Law”  and Haley Joel Osment of “The Sixth Sense” as well as Bill Monning, the current majority leader of the California state senate.

Doe attended Flintridge Prep from 2012 until her graduation in 2016. Peter Bachmann was the headmaster  and was closely involved in the daily operations of the school, the development of curriculum in school policies and in ensuring the well-being of students, the suit filed last Nov. 9 stated.

Before 2012, there were multiple inappropriate student-teacher relationships, all of which Flintridge Prep and Bachmann knew or should  have known about, the suit stated.

“A reasonable and responsible secondary school would train its staff and students to recognize sexual abuse and to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate student-teacher interactions,” the suit stated.

Wagstaff was a world languages instructor. He was 31 years old when he began teaching at Flintridge Prep and in 2013 he began sexually grooming and molesting Doe, the suit alleged. Wagstaff targeted Doe for individualized attention while she was a student in his class and sought meetings with her alone in his classroom and in public areas around campus in order to discuss her course work and her personal life, the suit alleged.

Before and after class, the two often took part in activities unrelated to Doe’s coursework, including crossword puzzles, the suit stated.

Wagstaff “praised her maturity in his written evaluations of her work as well as in private conversations with plaintiff,” according to the suit, which further alleged he began developing a closer personal relationship with her after her sophomore year.

“He provided her with a long list of personally selected films for her to watch, many of which had adult or romantic themes,” the suit stated.

Wagstaff and Doe exchanged 82 emails through their school accounts in the month of September 2014, according to the suit, which further alleges that during the plaintiff’s junior year, Wagstaff purchased and hand-made several gifts for her and regularly brought her tea.

At times, at Wagstaff’s insistence, Doe skipped classes to visit him and talk about sexually explicit matters, according to the suit, which additionally alleged that at one point Wagstaff told her he considered the two of them to be in a relationship.

By September 2015, when Doe was a 17-year-old senior, Wagstaff began “pushing the sexual boundaries of his relationship with plaintiff” and began showing her sexually explicit films, the suit stated.

Doe “escaped” the alleged relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed her to avoid Wagstaff’s advances and attention, the suit stated.

Doe has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder along with depression, anxiety, flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks and difficulty focusing, according to the suit. Bachmann, named headmaster in 1991, retired in 2020 and was not a defendant in the suit.