Former students sue Vallejo school district, alleging ‘open, obvious, and notorious’ abuse by former volleyball coach

VALLEJO – Two former students are suing the Vallejo City Unified School District, alleging school employees knew — or should have known — they were sexually abused by a former teacher and volleyball coach at Vallejo High School. 

JohnPaul Cagandahan Acac, 47, pleaded no contest in March to multiple sex crimes involving two minors, and is serving an eight-year prison sentence. 

In one civil complaint filed in July, a former student alleges she was groomed by Acac beginning in ninth grade in 2010. She was on the volleyball team, where Acac was head coach. 

The suit alleges Acac’s grooming behavior escalated her sophomore year, when he first kissed her, and then he raped her beginning 2012 and throughout the rest of high school. The former student alleges Acac would have her meet him during other classes by having her tell teachers she was needed for his leadership club. 

The second lawsuit, filed in August, includes similar allegations by a different student who says Acac groomed her during her freshman year in 2010, and raped her beginning in her sophomore year and throughout high school. 

In that case, the former student says Acac was aware that her father had died by suicide, and used that information to pursue and groom her. He hugged her, invited her to his home, and gave her rides home in his car, according to the lawsuit.  

Acac removed her from classes, having her tell teachers she needed to grieve the death of her father with him or attend to volleyball manager responsibilities, the suit alleges. 

Both former students allege Acac’s grooming behaviors were “open, obvious, and notorious.” 

Vallejo City Unified spokesperson Celina Baguiao said the district could not respond to pending litigation. But Baguiao said students’ and staff safety and well-being are paramount, and the district takes these allegations “very seriously.”

‘So many red flags’ 

After Acac’s arrest on Dec. 19, an outpouring of former students took to social media, sharing that they were not surprised. 

Two former Vallejo High alums told the Vallejo Sun in interviews that Acac’s behavior around female classmates made them uncomfortable when they were in high school. They said he gave out his personal phone number to female students and had a room behind his desk with a couch and television where female students spent time. 

Sara Martinez, who graduated in 2010, said she remembered girls who were not his students spending time in that room. Martinez said he texted female students and gave them rides in his car after school. 

Once or twice a year, she searched his name online. 

“I just always was wondering if something would come of it because I knew there were so many red flags,” Martinez said. “It was disappointing and painful.” 

Another alum, who asked not to be named because of concerns about privacy, also recalled feeling disturbed Acac spent so much time with his female classmates. He remembered Acac showing up at classmates’ jobs. 

The alum, who graduated in 2014, said he reported concerns about Acac spending so much time with female students to school administrators, but was brushed aside. He said Acac bullied him, giving him failing grades.  

He said the arrest and conviction of his former teacher more than a decade later validated red flags he noticed as a teenager. 

“I wasn't crazy all those years. I wasn't being just some dumb kid,” he said. “It was adults that failed me. We weren't listened to, and were painted as these crazy kids that just didn't know any better.” 

Victims come forward, leading to Acac’s conviction

Baguiao said the district “encourages anyone with concerns about student safety or staff conduct—past or present—to come forward and address those concerns appropriately.” 

“Out of respect for the individuals involved and due to confidentiality obligations, we cannot provide details about specific personnel matters or past complaints,” Baguiao said. 

Acac was a wrestling coach at Vallejo High and taught independent study at the John Finney Education Complex before his resignation last year. 

In November 2024, a Vallejo police officer approached the school's then-vice principal, Beyonka Marshall, while Acac was under investigation, and the officer told her the alleged abuse occurred in a “back room” of Acac’s classroom, according to emails obtained by the Vallejo Sun through a public records request. 

“She also stated that they had evidence of him (recorded phone call) admitting to having sex with the young lady,” Marshall wrote in an email to another administrator, summarizing the encounter. 

Days later, one of the victims drafted a message on social media, asking anyone with information to come forward. 

“Now that we're adults, we have clarity on what has happened to us years ago and have gained the courage to take action with VPD - to stop this from happening again to young girls,” the message reads.