David Ring To Appear On ABC’s Nightline With Victim In The Childhood Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against L.A.’s Prestigious Marlborough School

Taylor Ring LogoTaylor & Ring partner, David Ring, will be featured on ABC’s Nightline tonight (12:35 a.m. PST) with victim, Chelsea Burkett, in the now notorious Marlborough sex abuse scandal. Tonight, for the first time, Chelsea will be speaking out and revealing her identity. “Remaining in the shadows implies I should be ashamed of what happened to me and I’m not,” Chelsea says.

Chelsea, now 32, suffered in silence for years after she was sexually abused by her English teacher, Joseph Koetters, while attending the prestigious L.A. all-girls school. In 2014, Chelsea went to the police after another former Marlborough student’s essay about her experience with Koetters’ inappropriate conduct went viral.

The pending lawsuit alleges that Koetters, now 49, sexually abused and harassed female students at three Los Angeles-area prep schools dating back to 1991. The lawsuit further alleges failure to report child abuse, negligence, and fraud against Marlborough and Viewpoint schools.

The focus of the Nightline special is Marlborough and Viewpoint’s reckless response to Koetters’ repeated misconduct towards girls. Nightline aims to shed light on a national problem that has been overlooked by lawmakers for far too long – “passing the trash”. Passing the trash occurs when a school rids itself of a problematic teacher, often accused of sexual misconduct, by giving him a favorable recommendation that allows him to gain employment at another school and threaten a new group of vulnerable children. “I’ve handled many passing-the-trash lawsuits – it’s a disturbing pattern that affects even the most elite schools,” said David Ring.

Link to Nightline Article: http://abcnews.go.com/US/passing-trash-women-teachers-sexually-abused-allowed-continue/story?id=46626326

Link to Statements: http://abcnews.go.com/US/statements-abc-news-received-nightlines-passing-trash-report/story?id=46628924