Courtesy KBAK
BAKERSFIELD, CA (KUZZ, Bakersfield Californian) — The Fairfax School District has agreed to a $5 million settlement in a sexual abuse case involving a former vice principal.
According to the Bakersfield Californian, the settlement stemmed from a 2011 case in which former Fairfax Middle School Vice Principal Donald Ricketts was charged with six felonies alleging lewd and lascivious acts with three victims under 14 years of age.
In 2023, Ricketts pleaded no contest to one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, and the remaining five counts were dismissed. He served three years in prison.
According to the Californian, the settlement also included a former church, Fairfax Assembly of God, where Ricketts was a pastor and where some of the alleged incidents occurred. The settlement amount from the church will remain undisclosed.
Ricketts was hired in the district as a teacher and later promoted to vice principal of Fairfax Middle School, now known as Fairfax Junior High.
The alleged abuse occurred between 2004 and 2011, when Ricketts was first charged.
The Fairfax School District, which has three elementary schools and a junior high in unincorporated east Bakersfield, did not respond to request for comment.
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