Alhambra vice principal quits after YouTube sex abuse allegation

A woman identifying herself as the former student of an Alhambra High School vice principal went public with her accusations after her YouTube video alleging childhood sexual abuse went viral and sparked the vice principal’s resignation.

The video has been viewed more than 165,000 times since it was posted Friday.

It shows a woman who identifies herself as a former student named Jamie calling and recording the voice of a woman who identifies herself as Jamie’s former teacher.

Jamie confronts the former teacher about alleged sexual abuse by the teacher against her that she says occurred when Jamie was in the eighth grade at a middle school in Riverside. In the video, the woman who said she was the former teacher does not deny the abuse allegations and expresses regret and disgust with herself.

Alhambra Unified School District Superintendent Laura Tellez-Gagliano said school staff received an email with a link to the video on Friday and immediately reported it to the Alhambra Police Department.

Alhambra police contacted Jamie and verified the authenticity of her claims in the video before referring the complaint to the Riverside Police Department, according to a news release.

Later that day, Tellez-Gagliano said, Alhambra High School’s vice principal of student services, Andrea Cardosa, resigned.

Cardosa was hired less than four months ago, Tellez-Gagliano said. She had “stellar recommendations,” and the district completed a background check before hiring her, Tellez-Gagliano said.

Jamie said Monday she would seek legal action to ensure her alleged abuser never works with children again. In a halting voice at a news conference Monday afternoon in front of Alhambra High School, Jamie alleged her former teacher molested her until she graduated from high school.

“She told me that my family didn’t love me. That nobody cared about me, that she was my only friend and the only person who cared about me,” said Jamie, flanked by her attorney and her fiance.

Jamie said she has not spoken to her former teacher for seven years but decided to speak up now because she did not want her own children to experience what she went through. She said she looked up the former teacher’s phone number and posted a video clip of the call to YouTube because she believed it was the only way she could get a response.

Her attorney, David Ring, said Jamie’s former teacher was previously investigated by both school and law enforcement authorities in 1999 when rumors began to swirl about the alleged abuse. But the investigation resulted in no arrests, charges or disciplinary action, he said.

Ring said the former teacher, who was her basketball coach, was allowed to resign with a positive recommendation.

“They call this ‘passing the trash,’” Ring said.

Ring said Jamie is considering a lawsuit alleging misconduct on the part of the school districts that hired the former teacher.

frank.shyong@latimes.com