A Piner High School graduate is suing Santa Rosa City Schools, claiming district staff looked the other way while she was groomed by a wrestling coach as a teenager and that the relationship carried on after she graduated. The civil complaint, filed in Sonoma County Superior Court, names the district and two employees and alleges that some adults who were mandated reporters witnessed inappropriate conduct and failed to report it. The suit also claims the coach used sexual acts as rewards tied to athletic performance.
What the lawsuit alleges
The plaintiff, identified in court documents only as R.D., says the grooming began toward the end of 2009 and continued into 2010 and through her first year of college. The complaint states that the sexual activity ended before she turned 18. According to the filing, the conduct was widely known among students and openly discussed on campus, yet administrators and coaches who were mandated reporters failed to step in. Plaintiff attorney Elan Zektser says the case is intended in part to spotlight alleged violations of California’s mandatory reporting laws, as reported by The Press Democrat.
Who the suit names and staff roles
The complaint lists Santa Rosa City Schools and two employees as defendants, including Virginia Bagley and a former Piner coach who is identified in the lawsuit. The district’s published 2024–25 organizational chart shows Bagley as a budget technician in Fiscal Services, indicating she remains on the district payroll. According to Santa Rosa City Schools, she is part of the fiscal services unit.
Mandatory reporting rules at issue
At the core of the lawsuit is the accusation that mandated reporters on campus did not alert authorities, which could amount to a violation of the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act. That law, set out in Penal Code sections 11164 to 11174.3, requires many school employees, including coaches, to make an immediate verbal report to law enforcement or child protective services, then file a written report within 36 hours. It also establishes criminal penalties for a willful failure to report suspected abuse. UC Riverside details those duties and timelines under CANRA.
District response and criminal status
A district spokesperson confirmed that Bagley is still employed by Santa Rosa City Schools and that Tony Albini previously served as a coach at Piner, according to the newspaper. Court records currently show no criminal charges connected to the allegations. The reporting outlet is not identifying the coach named in the civil filing because he is not a defendant in the lawsuit. Those details were reported by The Press Democrat…