LAUSD to Pay a $24 Million Settlement to Three Women Who Were Sexually Abused by Their Elementary School Teacher in 2006-2007

An $8 million payout goes to each victim, making each the largest settlement paid out by LAUSD to an individual sex abuse victim.

LOS ANGELES – In early September, Dave Ring of Taylor & Ring, a California plaintiff trial law firm, obtained a $24 million settlement on behalf of Jane Does 1, 2, and 3, who were sexually abused by their Langdon Avenue Elementary School teacher, David Ostovich. The abuse occurred when the plaintiffs were 8-9 years old in 2006 and 2007. During that time, Ostovich sexually molested the plaintiffs on dozens of occasions in his classroom during school hours.

Before these molestations, Ostovich was employed at a different LAUSD school, Germain Elementary, where he received dozens of complaints from administrators, teachers, parents and students about his inappropriate behavior with girls. Ostovich was forced out of that school and then obtained a job at Langdon. LAUSD never shared the prior complaints from Ostovich’s first school (Germain) with his new school (Langdon). Ostovich continued his improper behavior with girls at Langdon and was reprimanded several times but was allowed to continue teaching fourth grade. In 2006-2007 he molested two of the victims in this case. The following year Ostovich was moved to a first-grade class where he molested the third victim in this case.

“This is an outrageous case that highlights LAUSD’s systemic failure to protect children from known child molesters. LAUSD received many complaints about this perpetrator’s interactions with girls, and instead of firing him, they ‘passed the trash’ and allowed him to move quietly to another school, where he continued to molest more girls. LAUSD’s complete lack of care for its young students is shocking. The abuse these three women endured forever altered their lives.  It could have been entirely prevented if LAUSD had just done its job,” explains attorney Dave Ring.

Case Background

In 2006 and 2007, defendant David Ostovich began grooming and eventually molesting the plaintiffs at Langdon Avenue Elementary School. Ostovich was in his late 40s and employed as a 4th-grade teacher. The plaintiffs were 8-9 years old.

As part of his grooming tactics, Ostovich would frequently ask young girls to stay with him during recess and lunch behind closed doors in his classroom.  He would touch, rub and improperly hug them. He would have them sit on his lap and bought them lunch and gifts. All of this was known to LAUSD, who reprimanded Ostovich several times, yet never fired him.  Ostovich escalated his misconduct and began to sexually abuse the girls in his classroom.

In 2008, after years of improper behavior at the two LAUSD schools, detectives at the LAPD were informed of the allegations and conducted an investigation. LAPD learned of several victims, including two in this case, and Ostovich was eventually arrested and convicted.  Incredibly, he never served any jail time but his teaching credentials were revoked.

In 2020, California expanded the statute of limitations for survivors of sexual abuse, which allowed these victims (now in their early 20s) to finally file lawsuits against LAUSD and Ostovich. The lawsuit lasted several years before this record settlement was reached in 2024, just before the commencement of a civil trial against LAUSD and Ostovich.

Taylor & Ring, an award-winning Los Angeles-based trial law firm, represents plaintiffs across California in high-impact civil rights, personal injury, wrongful death, sexual assault, abuse and harassment matters.