A San Francisco lawyer, Christopher Keane, reportedly says Fresno Unified School District should have done more to protect the 10-year-old girl who was abducted on her way to school two months ago, sexually assaulted and left bound in a field near Kerman.
In a claim for damages filed against the district on behalf of the girl, the lawyer says Fresno Unified failed to "appropriately, timely and safely notify the legal guardians" of the girl's absence from school, adding that was a substantial factor in her abduction and the lack of a timely rescue.
School officials are recommending trustees deny the claim at tonight's Board of Education meeting. The next step after a denial is a civil lawsuit.
Kalvin Michael Cardenas, 23, was arrested Sept. 26 in the girl's abduction and sexual assault. He is scheduled to appear Jan. 17 in Fresno County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing. He is being held in Fresno County Jail without bail.
Sheriff's officers said Cardenas grabbed the girl on Sept. 25 while she was walking her bicycle to Vinland Elementary School just south of Fresno State. She was walking to catch a bus to a magnet school.
