Two more abuse victims in Carlsbad

In 2010 third-grade teacher from Carlsbad, Raymond Firth, pleaded guilty to fondling two of his students. In exchange for the plea, the district attorney's office agreed to drop six counts of child molestation.

In 2012 two of those victims filed a civil suit against Firth and the district.

A jury ruled the district was responsible for $1.8 million in damages. The district appealed but lost in court.

Now, two more of Firth's victims have come forward to file civil actions against the district and former teacher.

According to the lawsuit, filed by the two unidentified adult women, Firth did much more than the fondling that he pleaded guilty to in 2010.

In one claim, a woman known only as Savannah B, says the abuse started when she was seven years old during the 2000-2001 school year. During that time Firth allegedly touched her genitals and "digitally penetrated" her.

Firth threatened her if she told anyone.

The other woman, known as Selena B, says her abuse began in 2006 while she in Firth's third-grade class. The abuse was similar to the other woman in the complaint.

That following year another of Firth's victims told the district about their daughter's abuse. Firth resigned.

Firth pleaded guilty to two felonies, one of which was the assault on Selena B.

But the girls' nightmare did not end there.

"After Firth was arrested and released on bail, [the girls] began to see Firth at places near their home where they had previously never seen Firth before," reads the complaint.

The complaint alleges that years later Firth drove to the high school where one girl went, and he waited for her to exit.

He drove next to her and asked her how she and the other girl were.

The complaint says the girls continued to see Firth, even after he was released from prison — serving just 22 months of his 44-month sentence.

Assistant Superintendent Rick Grove of Carlsbad Unified responded with this email: "While the lawsuit restates unfortunate events from the distant past, law enforcement addressed the inappropriate conduct by former teacher Raymond Firth nearly a decade ago. As acknowledged in their tort claims, the plaintiffs in this case were interviewed by police during the 2009-2010 time frame and chose not to pursue further action. Since the District was only recently served with this lawsuit, it is premature to provide more detailed comment at this time."