Claim filed against Spokane schools

A $2 million claim has been filed against Spokane Public Schools by a former student who says the district knew about the sexual relationship that developed between her and a district employee.

Brianna Sturgeon, now 18, claims that the school district was aware of her sexual relationship with Titus Epefanio, which began when she was a 15-year-old freshman at Shadle Park High School and he was a teacher’s aide at Salk Middle School, where they had met.

Epefanio, 29, was arrested in September on charges of child rape and sexual misconduct for his alleged relationship with the girl, more than a year after he fathered a child with her.

The claim for damages signed last month alleges that school administrators were aware of the relationship and did nothing to stop it, violating Sturgeon’s civil rights.

The claim alleges that Pauline Zambryski, who was the assistant principal at Shadle Park at the time, authorized Sturgeon to be out of class during school hours so she could meet with Epefanio on school grounds.

“This included such meetings in Ms. Zambryski’s office with her knowledge and consent,” the records say. The claim said Zambryski, who now works in the district’s Spokane Skills Center, never notified the girl’s parents.

It also says that in one of the meetings Epefanio kissed Sturgeon on the mouth while Zambryski was present.

District officials said they had not had yet seen the claim and declined to comment.

The claim also contends that the district was negligent because it failed to perform an adequate background check on Epefanio before hiring him. Without giving specifics, the suit alleges that such a search would have led the district to determine that he should not be hired.

However, the district previously said that Epefanio underwent a 50-state background check for convictions and recent arrests and that his record was clean.

According to Sturgeon’s attorney, Keith Glanzer, the district has 60 days to respond to the claim. If the district doesn’t agree to the terms, a lawsuit could be filed.

Epefanio, who was a special education aide at Salk and a basketball coach, quit his job in the district in 2004, district officials said.

According to the claim, Sturgeon met Epefanio in the fall of 2001, while in the seventh grade at Salk where she worked as a sports manager for the school’s basketball teams. During her freshman year at Shadle in 2003, Epefanio asked her to return to Salk to continue in the manager position.

It was then that their relationship became sexual, the claim states.

District spokeswoman Terren Roloff had previously stated in news reports that there had never been any misconduct complaints against Epefanio while he was employed in the district. Sturgeon’s family never called police or officially complained to the school district.

The relationship between Epefanio and Sturgeon did not become public until May 2005, when a birth announcement listed him as the father of the girl’s child. Sturgeon became pregnant in September 2004.

Sturgeon and Epefanio lived together for a time before the baby was born, and they talked of marrying, according to previous press reports. They never married, and she filed a restraining order against him in April, alleging he had become possessive and had raped her.