CA school district, former vice principal face lawsuit over alleged student abuse
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Investigation into ex-Modesto principal
Former Roosevelt Junior High School Principal Brian Chubon was convicted of crimes against a minor.
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Former school administrator Brian Chubon and the Gustine Unified School District are facing a civil lawsuit alleging that he repeatedly engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor student and that district officials failed to stop or report the misconduct.
The Merced County Office of Education is also named as a defendant in the case, which seeks more than $50,000 in damages and a jury trial.
The suit was filed Jan. 30 in Merced County Superior Court by the former student Chubon is accused of engaging in a sexual relationship with while he was vice principal at Gustine High School during the 2021-22 school year. It alleges assault and battery, vicarious liability, breach of mandatory duty and negligence. Vicarious liability refers to an employer’s liability for injury caused as a result of negligent or otherwise improper actions of its employees within the scope of employment.
Chubon was convicted in January of felony statutory rape of a minor and sentenced to two years of probation. He pleaded no contest. Charges first were filed against Chubon in November 2024 after the student came forward earlier that year, when Chubon was serving as assistant principal at Mark Twain Junior High School in Modesto. He later was promoted by Modesto City Schools to principal of Roosevelt Junior High in July 2025.
According to the civil lawsuit complaint, Chubon used his position “to manipulate, influence, gain the trust of, and victimize” the student. The complaint claims she was subjected to “pervasive, persistent and repeated sexual assault and abuse” on and off campus.
It argues that the school district and the Merced County Office of Education had a mandatory duty to protect students from foreseeable harm. It alleges that they negligently hired and supervised Chubon, and that their failures were a “substantial factor” in causing her harm.
The suit also asserts that district employees are mandated reporters under California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act but failed to report suspected abuse to law enforcement or child protective services.
The former student was “injured and hurt in her health, strength and activity, sustaining injuries to her body, and shock and injury to her nervous system and person, as well as psychological and emotional injuries,” all of which continue to harm her and will “result in some permanent disability,” according to the suit.
As a result, she has sought medical and professional help, for which she has incurred expenses, the lawsuit asserts.
MCOE spokesperson Nathan Quevedo said the county office had just become aware of the lawsuit. He disputed the suit’s claim that MCOE is “responsible for the administration, maintenance, operation, supervision, control, and oversight of Gustine High School.”
He said the office’s only involvement with Chubon was running a Live Scan — a digital fingerprint check sent to the California Department of Justice — before he was hired by GUSD. He added that his office is not notified when a district employee is the subject of an internal investigation.
“Beyond that, we have had no role in any of this,” Quevedo said. “To me, it’s kind of preposterous that we would be named in a lawsuit.”
Chubon and GUSD did not respond to The Bee’s requests for comment as of Friday morning.
Alleged acts and internal investigation
The lawsuit asserts that GUSD and the MCOE “suspected, knew and/or should have known” of Chubon’s conduct with the student.
It mentions multiple instances, during sports events at school, where Chubon allegedly groped and kissed the minor in an office. It also alleges that on over 10 occasions, he took her to various secluded back roads around town and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
During spring 2022, after Human Resources Specialist and Title IX Coordinator Marisol Juarez stated she witnessed inappropriate activity between the student and Chubon, an internal investigation was launched by the district.
The lawsuit claims that a Gustine police officer was present during the student’s interview. However, internal investigation documents obtained by The Bee indicate that only the student, Juarez and GUSD Superintendent Bryan Ballenger attended the meeting. Those documents also show that neither law enforcement nor child protective services were contacted following the investigation.
Edward Morgan, the attorney representing the former student, told The Bee that the account of that meeting is based on his client’s memory and may not be fully accurate. He said he is uncertain whether the presence of an officer at the meeting would have affected the district’s obligations under state mandatory reporting law.
Despite the district’s knowledge of Chubon’s inappropriate conduct, the lawsuit states, he still was permitted to chaperone Gustine High’s senior trip and prom night. Chubon acted inappropriately with the student in both instances, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit also states that during Gustine High’s commencement ceremony, Chubon handed the student, who was graduating, a three-page handwritten letter in which he spoke of how beautiful she was, how much he loved her and how he wanted to be with her. Chubon was 49 years old and married at the time.
A month later, Chubon left the district in “good standing” and was hired by Modesto City Schools. The lawsuit states that GUSD failed to inform the Modesto district of its investigation into Chubon’s “inappropriate relations with a minor student.”
Instead, Superintendent Ballenger and Gustine High School Principal Adam Cano wrote glowing letters of recommendation for Chubon in 2022 and 2023, according to documents obtained by The Bee.
The lawsuit also seeks, among other damages, punitive damages and costs of suit.
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 11:34 AM with the headline "CA school district, former vice principal face lawsuit over alleged student abuse."
