A California school district paid a $375,000 settlement to a former student who was 16 when his 32-year-old gym teacher had sex with him, the East Bay Times reported, citing court documents.
The boy and his family filed a lawsuit against the Fremont Unified School District in 2017, alleging that Corrine “Cory” Audiat groomed her students at Washington High School by flirting with them, texting and showing open displays of affection, according to court documents.
The lawsuit claimed Audiat inflicted emotional distress on the student, the Times reported.
“We knew this settlement wasn’t going to be confidential, and that it would send a message to other districts: You have to take proactive measures, or you’re going to be held accountable,” the boy’s attorney, Mark Boskovich, told the newspaper.
A district spokesman refused to comment about the settlement, which was executed in January between the district’s attorneys, the boy and his attorney.
Audiat was originally named in this lawsuit, but was removed in March 2018, the Times reported. She and the boy's attorney's also agreed to a settlement.
According to the lawsuit, Audiat texted the boy in May 2016 that she wanted to pull him into the gym equipment room and kiss him, the newspaper reported.
Fremont police began investigating Audiat on Nov. 23, 2016, after receiving a tip that she had been involved with a male student. She was arrested soon after, the Times reported.
In the separate criminal case in late 2017, Audiat pleaded no contest to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
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