Tatianna Lozano knew something was wrong when her 10-year-old daughter’s behavior changed abruptly in December 2023.
Lozano was used to interpreting cues. Her daughter has a developmental disability that prevents her from communicating verbally. But this was different, an extreme shift.
Her daughter threw tantrums. She was fearful of being left alone, even for a few minutes. She didn’t want to be touched or hugged. She grabbed at her mother’s chest. Lozano was confused and shocked – until her daughter’s principal at Webster Elementary called two days later.
There had been an incident at the school between a male aide and Lozano’s daughter – that was all the school could share, Lozano recalled.
The next few days were a scramble for information. Lozano learned from the police that someone reported witnessing an aide molest her daughter. Although the incident had occurred on a Monday, the school did not notify Lozano until Wednesday, she said. The school district disputes this, saying they notified Lozano on Tuesday, the same day school officials learned of the accusations.
Nobody filed a police report until Thursday, according to the Long Beach Police Department, even though school employees are mandated reporters and required by law to report suspected child abuse immediately.
When Lozano’s mother, Clara Gonzalez, asked whether the district had reported the incident to the Department of Children and Family Services, she couldn’t get an answer. Livid, Gonzalez called the child abuse hotline herself, and the hotline worker who answered said the school had not made a report, according to detailed notes Gonzalez took at the time. The district says the third-party employer of the aide filed a DCFS report.
Lozano and Gonzalez said neither the police nor the district would reveal the name of the alleged perpetrator, who he worked for or whether he still worked with children.
A spokesperson for the Long Beach Unified School District also declined to provide much of this information to the Post, citing confidentiality protections. She said: “The individual referenced worked at Webster through a contracted agency and was removed from the school site and from any contact with students. The individual is no longer assigned to work in the district.” The spokesperson added that the “district notified the contracted staffing agency immediately upon learning of the allegations.”
In their initial contact with police, the family says information remained scarce. Gonzalez took notes on a call with the detective – even the person who first saw the incident would not cooperate: “Witness does not want to help so not much they can do,” Gonzalez wrote.
Since then, she says, any new information has been withheld.
Nearly two years on, the Long Beach Police Department confirmed to the Post that there’s still an active criminal investigation.
LBPD said the case had been presented to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office to determine if charges can be filed, but conflicting accounts from the police and DA show each thinks the ball is in the other’s court. Prosecutors sent the case back to the police for further investigation, according to the DA’s office. The police department said the case was again presented to the district attorney. Lozano expressed disappointment at the finger-pointing and said no one seemed to be taking the case seriously.
“It’s been surreal,” Gonzalez said. “You would think a child, especially a special needs child, would have been more protected.” Instead, she said it feels as though the school district is protecting itself and the person suspected of abusing her granddaughter. Gonzalez said that feels like being told: “We don’t matter. My granddaughter doesn’t matter.”
A spokesperson for the district said that “Support was provided to the student and family through our school crisis response and counseling team, and we continue to make resources available as needed.”
But Gonzalez said the family received “nothing at all.” She sought a referral from the police department, and Lozano began taking her daughter to For The Child, a nonprofit that provides services to children who have experienced abuse and neglect.
Lozano saw some improvement in her daughter’s behavior, she said, but they ended therapy after five or six months. “Because of the fact that she’s nonverbal, it can only do so much,” she said. “She can’t talk to me about it and how she feels.”
Slowly, Lozano has worked to rebuild her daughter’s trust – brushing her hair, showering her, helping her off the school bus at the end of the day – but she still acts out and has trouble being separated from Lozano.
With no answers from the school or police, Gonzalez says she can’t help but wonder, “how many other kids have gone through similar situations?”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional responses from the Long Beach Unified School District about its timeline in disclosing the accusations.