Civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred files lawsuits over Gilroy school district's handling of 'catfishing' teacher case

GILROY, Calif. (KGO) -- The Gilroy school system's response to a "catfishing" case is now the target of two new lawsuits by high-profile civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred.

Police say the male teacher posed as a girl online, and tricked high school boys into sending him naked pictures.

At the heart of these two new lawsuits are details that entire classes taught by Douglas Le may have been subjected to sexually explicit videos and verbal harassment and that the school district could have prevented it from happening.

The new lawsuits are based on complaints by two underage male students who were students of AP chemistry teacher Douglas Le at Gilroy High School.

It alleges that Le showed the students videos with sexual content and used language so graphic that attorney Gloria Allred and her colleagues would not say them out loud.

"It involves such graphic language that frankly, I don't want to say it, and she's not going to say it," said the victim's attorney John Manly.

A third student, a girl, has already stepped forward after her mother saw a questionable text from Le. Even though she reported this to the Gilroy School District in October 2014, Le was allowed to continue teaching.

Allred's legal team says the two new victims could have been spared if the district had taken action then.

"But for the negligence and failures of the school district, these children would not have to suffer what they're suffering today," Allred said.

No one from the Gilroy School District was available for comment. The lawsuit is seeking damages for emotional distress and negligence.

"The last thing a parent would expect would be for the school district to ignore a warning that a teacher posed a danger to children," said Celest Benn, mother of one of the student victims.

Victims also claim that Le gave students failing grades to coerce them to attend after-school tutoring where students claim they faced additional harassment.

"Although we've only filed three lawsuits so far, this is not the end," Allred said.

Allred, as well as a teacher at the school, told us the law requires educators to report inappropriate behavior to police immediately for investigation.