Family sues Los Angeles private school as 7-year-old daughter is an alleged victim of "kissing club"

A family is suing a Los Angeles area prestigious private school after their 7-year-old daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted by other students involved in a campus "kissing club."

Attorneys announced the lawsuit against Sierra Canyon School during a Wednesday news conference, claiming the Chatsworth school failed to provide adequate student supervision as older girls pressured and coerced younger students, including the victim, into kissing and other sexually charged acts while inside the school bathrooms.

Despite the victim's mother reporting bullying concerns to the school in 2023, nothing changed, and no protective measures were implemented, according to attorneys.

 "Sierra Canyon promised that they would have a family-like environment. They promised a strong moral base, they promised to keep their daughter safe…but instead, what they got, was the complete opposite," Attorney Sam Dordulian said as the victim's parents sat at his side during the news conference.

Dordulian detailed what was known about the "kissing club" as second-graders, 7 and 8-year-old children would get together in a bathroom. He said it was allegedly primarily led by one particular 8-year-old girl, who created the club.

"This club would meet in the bathrooms, where they would have seclusion and not be supervised by adults, and these children would meet there, and the 8-year-olds would kind of force and bully the 7-year-old students to show up," Dordulian said.

The victim's parents spoke at the news conference and said they had noticed significant changes in their daughter and had brought up the lack of supervision at the bathrooms to the school in the past.

"I told them that my daughter feared for her safety and was extremely uncomfortable going to the bathroom, so much so that she would avoid using the restroom while at school," the mother said.

Tearfully, the mother said that despite her voicing concerns, some incidents happened in the bathrooms that have deeply impacted her daughter. She said she is speaking out because "no family should have to go through this. Schools must take parents' concerns seriously."

Dordulian noted that the California Department of Education offers a "developmentally appropriate toilet practices toolkit" available to support children from preschool through third grade. He said it lays out standards and practices on how schools and programs can monitor children safely.

"Child-on-child abuse is something that schools should be addressing; they should be concerned about," he said.

The victim's father said one of the major issues for him is that, as parents, they were not notified by the school at all, even though they were allegedly aware of the "kissing club."

"Had it not been sort of for our own detective work and figuring all of this out, this could have continued happening in future years," he said.

Dordulian said one other lawsuit has already been filed involving another victim of the so-called "kissing club." The mother said the alleged "ring-leader" child of the club is no longer attending the school.

CBS LA reached out to Sierra Canyon School for comment, but officials with the school have not responded yet.