- Oct 17, 2011
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This news comes out of a story about a lawsuit filed by the victim against the candidates as well as the staffer.
The investigation was launched after a civil lawsuit was filed alleging Ortiz and a political ally are liable for the actions of a campaign worker, who pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with an underage volunteer. Both the perpetrator and victim were involved in campaign work in 2021 for Ortiz and Efren Martinez [a candidate for state Assembly], according to the suit, filed Jan. 9 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
In the criminal case, Billy Valdivia, the campaign worker, also pleaded no contest to a weapons charge, according to court records. He’s also a defendant in the civil suit.
During the 2018-19 school year, B.A. attended Marquez High School in Huntington Park. She got to know Ortiz, who was a counselor and the faculty advisor to the Key Club, to which the student belonged, according to the lawsuit. [She recruited the student (and others) to work on her own campaign as well as a later one for Martinez.]
Also involved in the 2021 effort for Martinez was Valdivia, described in the lawsuit as a “personal friend” of Martinez who created video and advertising for the campaign office and drove volunteers around as they carried out campaign work.
Valdivia, who was 44 at the time, socialized with underage students, purchased alcohol for them and drove them around, according to the lawsuit. He would drop off B.A. last, gradually grooming the 16-year-old into a sexual relationship, sometimes taking her to his apartment, the lawsuit alleges.
B.A. told her family about the physical contact — and they notified Huntington Park police, who set up a sting, according to the suit.
LAUSD candidate under district investigation, removed from school counseling job during probe
Los Angeles school board candidate Graciela Ortiz has been removed from her job as an L.A. Unified counseling administrator pending a confidential investigation, school district officials confirmed, leading a school-employees union to withdraw its endorsement of her for the March 5 election.The investigation was launched after a civil lawsuit was filed alleging Ortiz and a political ally are liable for the actions of a campaign worker, who pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with an underage volunteer. Both the perpetrator and victim were involved in campaign work in 2021 for Ortiz and Efren Martinez [a candidate for state Assembly], according to the suit, filed Jan. 9 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
In the criminal case, Billy Valdivia, the campaign worker, also pleaded no contest to a weapons charge, according to court records. He’s also a defendant in the civil suit.
During the 2018-19 school year, B.A. attended Marquez High School in Huntington Park. She got to know Ortiz, who was a counselor and the faculty advisor to the Key Club, to which the student belonged, according to the lawsuit. [She recruited the student (and others) to work on her own campaign as well as a later one for Martinez.]
Also involved in the 2021 effort for Martinez was Valdivia, described in the lawsuit as a “personal friend” of Martinez who created video and advertising for the campaign office and drove volunteers around as they carried out campaign work.
Valdivia, who was 44 at the time, socialized with underage students, purchased alcohol for them and drove them around, according to the lawsuit. He would drop off B.A. last, gradually grooming the 16-year-old into a sexual relationship, sometimes taking her to his apartment, the lawsuit alleges.
B.A. told her family about the physical contact — and they notified Huntington Park police, who set up a sting, according to the suit.
