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Aug 1, 2022
A former Clovis, California, female teacher who previously pleaded no contest to sexually abusing a male student will not serve jail time.
After being arrested in December 2021, Amanda Hubble, a music teacher who previously worked for the Clovis Unified School District, was charged with:
Hubble’s 2021 arrest occurred after law enforcement authorities received a report that she had been engaging in an “inappropriate” relationship with a 17-year-old male student while working as a teacher.
The sexual abuse reportedly took place outside of school grounds – once in the teacher’s car and once at her home, according to KFSN-TV.
Despite the two felony sex crime counts, 32-year old Hubble avoided jail time and was instead sentenced to two years of probation last week by Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Skiles. She is also required to register as a sex offender for at least 10 years.
At sentencing, Judge Skiles told Hubble that she violated her position of trust as a teacher and took advantage of a student, according to a report from the Fresno Bee. Any feelings she “developed for the teen, or vice versa, were irrelevant,” Judge Skiles added.
“Amanda has accepted responsibility for her conduct and intends to comply carefully with the court’s conditions of felony probation,” her attorney, W. Kent Hamlin, said in a statement.
The penalty of probation was handed down despite pleas from the survivor’s family to issue a maximum sentence. Hubble could have faced up to three years and eight months in custody, the Fresno Bee reported. If the former Clovis music teacher violates her probation, she may have to serve prison time, Judge Skiles indicated at the time of sentencing.
During the hearing, prosecutor Sandra Garcia read a victim impact statement written by the survivor’s mother, who was present for the sentencing.
“We feel that words alone cannot put into context the detrimental effects this woman’s decisions have had on ourselves, the siblings, the school district, our community, her own son and family, but most importantly, the victim himself,” the victim’s mother wrote in her statement. “The physical and psychological effects by themselves are distressing, sadly apparent, and we fear long-lasting.”
The mother indicated that, as a result of the sexual abuse, her son suffered weight loss and side effects from antidepressant medication. After being an honor student, he failed classes, lost his job, and lost friends, according to the Fresno Bee. Additionally, the mother reportedly quit her job so her son wouldn’t be left alone.
“We’ve seen a vibrant teen boy fall into the deepest pits of despair, to the point of wanting to take his own life,” the mother wrote in the victim impact statement.
Hubble had worked as a choral teacher for the Clovis Unified School District since 2016. 2021 was her first school year working at the high school level (she had previously taught music to elementary school students), the Fresno Bee confirmed.
Following her arrest, Hubble was placed on unpaid leave by the school district. Her employment was terminated after her conviction, and her teaching credential has since been suspended.
Hubble’s attorney said during the sentencing hearing that his client had retained other employment approximately five months ago.
In the United States, public elementary and secondary schools reported a more than 50% increase in reports of sexual violence during the 2017-2018 academic year. Those staggering statistics were confirmed by federal civil rights data which the Education Department released in October 2020. The data was produced as part of a massive survey of information from schools – the Civil Rights Data Collection – which the Education Department conducts every other year.
In total, schools reported nearly 15,000 total incidents of sexual violence, a figure which reflects an overall 55% increase from the 2015-16 school year, Politico reported.
According to the Education Department’s report:
An analysis of the data provided by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights said it was unclear what was driving the increase between the data released in 2020 and the data released in the previous 2018 report, Politico confirmed.
“The increase in reported allegations may reflect under-reporting” in the previous survey, “an increased sensitivity to this issue” in the latest survey, “or an actual increase in incidents of sexual violence,” the department wrote in its analysis of the data.
Moreover, the data confirmed the following troubling statistics related to the extent to which schools physically restrained students or placed them in seclusion:
Teacher or school sexual abuse civil lawsuits can be a means of recovering financial compensation for the harm endured by survivors. Depending on the circumstances pertaining to a childhood sex crime, various compensatory damages may be pursued and recovered through a civil claim, such as:
At Dordulian Law Group (DLG) our school sexual abuse lawyers will fight aggressively on your behalf to secure all applicable financial damages and successfully obtain a maximum settlement or verdict for your claim.
Under new legislation which took effect in 2020 known as Assembly Bill 218 (AB 218), the statute of limitations on all California childhood sex crimes is paused (tolled) through the end of 2022. In other words, presently all California survivors of childhood sexual abuse or assault may file civil claims seeking financial compensation until December 31, 2022. However, on January 1, 2023, the standard statute of limitations resumes, and survivors who did not file claims will likely be left without any legal recourse.
California AB 218 includes a treble damages clause which gives the courts latitude to triple financial damages awards in cases where a cover-up is proven. For example, if you are a sexual abuse survivor who was victimized through a systemic cover-up by an individual or institution, and that wrongdoing was able to be proven in court, a $10 million damages award could theoretically be increased to $30 million under the AB 218 treble damages clause.
The treble damages clause was included in AB 218 in an effort to severely punish perpetrators who engaged in systemic cover-ups. Such cover-ups in have made worldwide headlines in recent years, including those occurring in major organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America and Catholic Church. Countless numbers of innocent survivors have been affected, but AB 218 offers all victims an opportunity at justice.
For additional information on California AB 218 and how it offers survivors of childhood sexual abuse an unpreceded, limited-time opportunity to obtain justice, please visit our recent blog post.
Although all children impacted by sexual abuse are currently eligible to file civil claims regardless of when a crime occurred under California AB 218, the statute of limitations is different for adult survivors of sexual violence.
For adult sexual assault survivors, the California statute of limitations on sex crimes allows you to file a civil claim up to 10 years after an incident. Furthermore, the adult statute of limitations allows for a three-year window in civil claims where sexual assaults lead to the discovery of a psychological injury, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
DLG was founded by Sam Dordulian, a former sex crimes prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County. As a leading California-based sexual assault and abuse firm representing survivors across the United States, we offer clients a unique type of legal representation that includes a four-tiered team of professionals known as the SAJE Team,
DLG’s SAJE Team is comprised of:
If you experienced a sexual assault incident, don’t wait to file a claim. Contact our expert attorneys online or by phone for a free consultation today.
For a free and confidential consultation regarding your school or teacher sexual abuse civil claim, contact a member of DLG’s SAJE Team today at 866-GO-SEE-SAM.
Our Los Angeles, California, school sexual abuse attorneys have helped survivors across the nation recover more than $200,000,000 in settlements and verdicts while maintaining a 98% success record. When you’re ready to take the first step towards obtaining justice on your own terms for a school sexual abuse incident, DLG is here to fight tirelessly on your behalf.
Sam Dordulian is an award-winning sexual abuse lawyer with over 25 years' experience helping survivors secure justice. As a former sex crimes prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney for L.A. County, he secured life sentences against countless sexual predators. Mr. Dordulian currently serves on the National Leadership Council for RAINN.
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