Lawsuit: Walnut Creek school employee begged student to get abortion

(KRON) — A new lawsuit accuses a Walnut Creek charter school administrator of begging a student to get an abortion after he allegedly raped her in his office on campus.

The administrator, Gerard Michael Flaherty, worked at Contra Costa School of Performing Arts in early 2025 as a Climate and Culture Supervisor, according to the lawsuit.

“Plaintiff discovered she was pregnant two months later in April. Flaherty was arrested in May of 2025 after he begged (the student) on a wiretapped phone call to have an abortion as she would ‘ruin’ his and his children’s lives if she kept the baby,” the lawsuit writes.

Flaherty, 43, was criminally charged with raping the underage student. He pleaded not guilty.

The free public charter school is located on Mitchell Drive and serves students between 6th-12th grades. A civil lawsuit filed Wednesday against Charthouse Public Schools and Flaherty alleges failures in oversight and accountability within the school’s administration.

During the 2024-2025 school year, when the student was 17 years old, “Flaherty used his position of trust and authority to gain access to her, groom her for his sexual advances, rape/sexually assault, and impregnate her on school grounds in his office,” the suit states.

Attorneys filed the suit on behalf of the student, identified as “Jane Doe,” and her mother.

In the months leading up to the alleged rape incident, several parents raised their concerns about Flaherty’s behavior around their daughters at school.

One mother reported her daughter’s concerns to the school executive director. The director dismissed them and asserted, “‘That would never happen here.’ The student left the school shortly afterwards due to her discomfort being around Flaherty,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

There were rumors that Flaherty invited students to vape and drink alcohol in his office with the door closed, and he was having an “affair” with a student, the suit states.

In February, Flaherty told “Jane Doe” that he was having a bad day because a parent had yelled at him. He gave the girl alcohol in his office, told her more about his bad day, and “forcibly embraced her,” the suit states. The administrator allegedly told the girl that it was “her fault” because of how she dressed and looked at him before he raped her, attorneys claim.

Attorneys said the student suffered physical, mental and emotional injuries.

“This case highlights systemic failures in ensuring student safety and accountability,”
attorney Lauren Cerri said. “Schools, including this one, need to enact and enforce
more robust policies and proactive measures to protect students from abuse.”