A lawsuit filed Tuesday (Jan. 28) claims that three young girls were sexually abused by a school tutor at Palo Alto’s Castilleja all-girls school.
Read a copy of the lawsuit here.
The suit said the school had knowledge of the tutor’s prior sexual misconduct with students as early as the 1992-93 school year, and that the school continued to give him unsupervised access to the campus.
The lawsuit identified the tutor as Mark Hodes, who was arrested in 2020 for allegedly molesting teenage girls at his home during private math lessons. The Santa Clara County Superior Court criminal case against Hodes (B2002177) has yet to go to trial.
In the Castilleja civil suit, attorneys for the girls said they believe there are more than a dozen victims in this case.
“We are limited in what we can say because of the pending litigation, but we want to assure the community that Castilleja’s policies and practices regarding student safety are comprehensive and robust,” said Castilleja spokeswoman Emily McElhinney said in a statement. “All employees undergo comprehensive background checks. We also require our faculty, staff, coaches, and board to participate in ongoing training on preventing and reporting suspected abuse and harassment, and maintaining boundaries for adult interactions with students.”
The 117-year-old all-girls school at 1310 Bryant St. in Palo Alto has about 400 students in grades six through 12. Tuition is more than $60,000, but many students receive scholarships to cover part of the cost.
More about this suit in today’s Daily Post.
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