(The Lion) — A California attorney has blown the whistle on the rampant sexual abuse of children in public schools – and the people that are covering it up.

John Manly is a leading attorney representing victims of sexual abuse, including the victims of former Olympics women’s gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, a convicted serial sex offender.

He told journalist Catherine Herridge he has identified more than 350 abusers in California schools alone just based on cases he’s handled.

In the interview, Manly exposes the “epidemic of sexual abuse” in public education and how school administrators “pass the trash” by transferring abusive teachers instead of firing them.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: Top Attorney Claims “Epidemic of Sexual Abuse” in California Public Schools by Teachers, Coaches, or School Employees And Reveals That New Data Estimates 17% of Students Nationwide Will Face Sexual Misconduct During Their Public Education

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— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) February 19, 2026

“In public education, in most states, it’s next to impossible to fire a bad teacher,” Manly said. “And typically they don’t fire them, they actually pay them to go away, even if they’ve sexually abused children.”

While all educators and school employees are mandatory reporters, Manly says reports of abuse are rarely filed.

“In the vast majority of cases we [have] the mandatory reporting statute is ignored, and schools investigate it themselves,” he explained. “When institutions or people investigate themselves, my experience is they rarely find themselves guilty.”

Most schools aren’t even required to notify parents if a teacher is under investigation for sexual misconduct.

“This is designed to conceal the level of abuse by school personnel from parents,” Manly argued, adding that when a good teacher does report a colleague for misconduct, they often face retaliation from district leadership.

The result is thousands, if not millions, of cases of sexual abuse against children every year. Manly says as many as 17% of K-12 schoolchildren will face sexual abuse from a school employee.

One such case was Mark Berndt, a teacher of over 30 years who was convicted of sexual abuse and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

While Berndt was only convicted of acts against 23 minors, the Los Angeles Unified School District paid nearly $170 million in settlements to the families of over 100 victims.

Notably, Berndt wasn’t reported by the school district or a fellow teacher. He was only caught after a drugstore employee noticed Berndt was printing disturbing photographs of abused children.

“The one thing we should be doing is to protect children from this,” Manly stated. “There is an epidemic of sexual abuse in the state by teachers, by coaches, by other school employees.”

Yet he’s noticed that teachers’ unions resist mandatory reporting.

“The unions know there is widespread non-reporting,” he explained. “What right-thinking person doesn’t want a teacher mandated by law to call the police when a little girl or a little boy is molested? That’s not only stupid policy but it’s frightening.”

According to Manly, the unions aren’t the only problem.

“Many administrators and school boards do not look at students as human beings,” he said. “They look at them as funding devices, and it gives me no pleasure to say that.”

Yet many parents who have safety concerns are still forced to send their children to school.

“Parents are mandated to send their children to the local public school, and have no choice,” Manly explained. “These parents in Title I schools, they don’t have any money for private school, they don’t have money for Catholic schools. They’ve got to send their kid to the public school.

“And if you get Mr. Berndt, well that’s just too bad.”

Manly concluded that the federal government can address the epidemic of abuse by enforcing Title IX, the national provision against sexual violence in all schools.

He also advocated for the Department of Justice to investigate major school districts where abuse is running rampant and – if necessary – end federal funding.

“If you want to make them stop this, cut off their money,” he concluded.