Marin Private School Embroiled In Sex Abuse Lawsuit: Report

San Rafael CA

08 June, 2021

1:45 PM

Description

ROSS, CA — A former Branson School student has filed a lawsuit against the Ross Valley private school alleging negligence in connection with accusations of sexual abuse decades ago, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. The plaintiff in the case is identified in the report as Erica Goldman, now 47, who attended the school in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her case alleges the school failed to act after she accused Richard Manoogian, a former volunteer assistant boys basketball coach of sexual abuse, the report said. The lawsuit alleges Goldman told longtime Branson head basketball coach Jonas Honick about the incidents and was told to remain silent about her allegations or the head coach at the time could lose his job according to the report. Honick is one of the Bay Area's most celebrated small school basketball coaches who has built a dynasty at Branson. He was named State Coach of the Year in 2019 by CalHiSports. Honick denied the allegations in an email to The Chronicle saying "I did not then, and would not ever, condone, ignore or cover up such conduct." Honick said he was retiring in an email to The Chronicle after the story was published online last week. Honick said the announcement was unrelated to the lawsuit according to the report. Manoogian was eventually fired in 1992 after Goldman reported the sexual abuse allegations to the school while she was a college freshman attending Stanford. The lawsuit filed last month is the second negligence case involving alleged sexual abuse of a former student filed against the school in recent months. Earlier this year a Marin County woman identified as Daphne Greene, now 59, filed a lawsuit against the school alleging negligence in connection with accusations of sexual abuse going back to the 1970s, The Marin Independent Journal reported. The lawsuit alleges the school failed to protect the plaintiff from Rothwell Taylor, a soccer coach at the school according to the report. Taylor was among four Branson staffers implicated in a 2019 sexual misconduct probe of past incidents, the report said. Read more in The San Francisco Chronicle