Red Rock Canyon School faces lawsuit over employee's alleged sexual misconduct
Editor's Note: A lawsuit only portrays one side of a story.
ST. GEORGE, Utah () — The troubled teen school that shut down in 2019 has had a lawsuit filed against it. Red Rock Canyon School in St. George, which closed in September 2019, is accused of negligence in allowing an employee to sexually abuse a minor student.
The lawsuit names Red Rock Canyon School, Sequel Youth and Family Services (the school's owners), Atonio Kavea (a former staff member), and Asiah Kavea (another former staff member).
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff who is filing the lawsuit — referred to as P.R. — was a student at Red Rock Canyon in 2017, at age 13. They were a member of the Tule River Indian Tribe and were in and out of foster care when they were sent to the school.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Former Red Rock Canyon School staffer comes forward with abuse and neglect allegations
The lawsuit alleges that P.R. had cousins who attended the school, and her cousins had been visited by the staff member Atonio Kavea in California while away from the school.
When P.R. arrived at the school in early 2017, she allegedly met Atonio Kavea and his sister, Asiah Kavea, who were both staff members at Red Rock Canyon School. Asiah Kavea was in charge of classes and staffing for female students. The plaintiff said that they showed favoritism toward her because they had met her and her cousins before.
Asiah Kavea, according to the lawsuit, allowed Atonio Kavea to take P.R. out of classes and spend time alone together. 'During this school-sanctioned alone time, Defendant Atonio Kavea begangrooming P.R. for a romantic relationship,' the lawsuit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, P.R. would be taken to a room without many security cameras and would be sexually assaulted by Atonio Kavea. Asiah Kavea was allegedly aware of the 'developing relationship' between them, but pretended not to know.
Red Rock Canyon School staffer charged for allegedly punching student in the face during April riot
'In or around June or July 2018, almost everyone at Red Rock Canyon School was aware of a sexual relationship between P.R. and employee/Defendant Atonio Kavea,' it states in the lawsuit.
Other employees allegedly attempted to end the relationship and separate Atonio Kavea and P.R. The residential director directly asked P.R. about the relationship, but the lawsuit states she feared retribution and refused to say anything except 'review the camera footage.'
At this point, Atonio Kavea allegedly provided P.R. with 'liquid THC' in hopes that she would get kicked out of Red Rock Canyon School. The next day, Asiah Kavea called her for a 'random drug test' and found that she tested positive for THC.
According to the lawsuit, Asiah Kavea then took P.R. out to the back field and began physically assaulting and hitting her. She was then informed that her things were in the office and a social worker was waiting to take her back to California.
P.R. would be taken back to California. On the way back, documents say that 'the social worker informed P.R. that she was considered a 'liability' to Red Rock Canyon School because she wouldn't be honest about the relationship between herself and Defendant Atonio Kavea.'
Atonio Kavea allegedly continued to visit P.R. in California and ask her to visit or stay with him in Utah. In August 2018, she would discover she was pregnant with his child.
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff named in sexual assault lawsuit
Upon being informed of the pregnancy, Atonio Kavea became 'enraged and attempted to force her to take 'Plan B,'' according to documents. Another alleged victim came forward and told police that she was also pregnant with Atonio Kavea's child.
At age 15, in April 2023, P.R. would give birth in California. DNA testing confirmed that Atonio Kavea was the father of P.R. and the other alleged victim's children. He was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child in California and has been placed on the sex offender registry.
Red Rock Canyon School and Sequel Youth and Family Services are both being sued for negligence, negligence of training and supervision, respondeat superior (meaning they are being held responsible for an employee's actions), and negligence per se breach of statutory reporting duty.
Ogden woman allegedly runs over boyfriend during argument
Asiah Kavea is also being sued for negligence, negligence of training and supervision, and negligence per se breach of statutory reporting duty. Atonio Kavea is being sued for sexual assault and abuse.
The lawsuit asks for 'damages in an amount to be proven at trial for pain and suffering,loss of disruption of relationships with family members and loved ones, otheremotional suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, in an amount no less than$10,000,000.00.'
ABC4 has reached out to Sequel Youth and Family Services and P.R.'s lawyers for more information on this lawsuit.
Red Rock Canyon School faces lawsuit over employee's alleged sexual misconduct
What if the most exciting cars today are Korean?
Get crafty: 10 unique classes for date nights or family fun along the Wasatch Front
Palou, drivers to be honored during 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 victory banquet
House GOP's SNAP proposal sparks concern from Senate Republicans
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
29 minutes ago
- New York Times
‘Love Island' Contestant Leaves Show After Racist Comments Surface
'Love Island USA,' the reality dating show that sends singles to an island villa to pair up in hopes of winning a cash prize, is known and often appreciated for its messy plots onscreen. But this week, as Season 7 of the show premiered, most of the chaos took place offscreen. Some offscreen drama also reached the show's predecessor, 'Love Island UK.' Contestant Dismissed for Racial Slurs For starters, one of the contestants, Yulissa Escobar, was summarily dropped from the show after video recordings of her repeatedly using a racial slur in a podcast interview were dug up by online sleuths and then reported by TMZ. The clips created an uproar among fans online before the premiere on Tuesday, but the series is aired with a one- or two-day delay, and Escobar, a 27-year-old Cuban American from Miami, still appeared in the first episode. Before the premiere, fans were vowing on X and TikTok to vote Escobar off the show as soon as they had the opportunity. On the first night of the show, Escobar was also criticized by some viewers for wearing an outfit that they deemed appropriative of Chinese culture and using chopsticks to pin up her hair. At about the 18-minute mark of the second episode, which was shown on Wednesday, the narrator, Iain Stirling, abruptly announced that 'Yulissa has left the villa.' She had been paired with Ace Greene, and later in the episode Stirling noted that Greene was single. Escobar could not immediately be reached for comment. Ryan McCormick, a spokesman for Peacock, which streams the show, declined to comment on why the producers had removed her. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBS News
29 minutes ago
- CBS News
Jury convicts Wisconsin inmate accused of killing cellmate for being Black and gay
A Wisconsin man doing time for trying to kill his mother was convicted Wednesday of strangling his cellmate to death. A jury found Jackson Vogel, 25, guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the death of 19-year-old Micah Laureano at the Green Bay Correctional Institution last year, WLUK-TV reported. Vogel told investigators he killed Laureano because Laureano was Black and gay. Vogel's attorneys, public defenders Ann Larson and Luke Harrison, didn't immediately return voicemail messages seeking comment. He faces a mandatory life sentence when he is sentenced on June 27. He is already serving a 20-year prison term handed down in 2018 for repeatedly stabbing his mother, strangling her and attempting to snap her neck, according to an appellate opinion upholding that conviction. A guard found Laureano's body hanging from the top bunk of the cell he shared with Vogel on Aug. 27, according to a criminal complaint. Laureano's hands and feet were tied together with orange material. Vogel, who is white, told the guard that he killed Laureano because Laureano was Black and gay, the complaint said. He said he knocked Laureano out, tied his hands and feet and strangled him. Investigators discovered numerous cut strips of orange cloth around the cell as well as a handwritten note that said, "Kill all humans!" followed by profanities directed at Black people and gay people, according to the complaint. Laureano was serving a three-year sentence in battery and robbery cases. His mother, Phyllis Laureano, filed a federal lawsuit in February accusing prison officials of failing to protect him from Vogel. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Green Bay Correctional Institution, a maximum security facility, opened in 1898. Republicans have been calling for years to close the prison along with the Waupun Correctional Institution, another maximum security facility where seven inmates have died since 2023. But concerns over job losses and the cost of building a new prison have stymied any progress on either front.
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Controversial airport watchlist program terminated by DHS amid weaponization concerns
EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is ending the Quiet Skies program, which left some Americans subject to additional screenings at airport security. The department says the agency was overly politicized to either benefit or hurt specific people and ran a bill of roughly $200 million annually. According to DHS, the program kept a watchlist as well as a list of people exempted. The department says Quiet Skies has not prevented any terrorist attacks but will continue to use other methods to assure safe air travel. "It is clear that the Quiet Skies program was used as a political rolodex of the Biden Administration—weaponized against its political foes and exploited to benefit their well-heeled friends. I am calling for a Congressional investigation to unearth further corruption at the expense of the American people and the undermining of US national security," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. DHS says that the list of exemptions of people who avoid "security policies" included "foreign royal families, political elites, professional athletes, and favored journalists." The program that started in 2010 was seen as a terror prevention method, and it faced escalating scrutiny from the left and right, including groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. "TSA's critical aviation and security vetting functions will be maintained, and the Trump Administration will return TSA to its true mission of being laser-focused on the safety and security of traveling public. This includes restoring the integrity, privacy, and equal application of the law for all Americans," Noem continued. In 2018, the ACLU asked the Transportation Security Administration for more information about the program. "The TSA is engaging in covert surveillance of travelers and raising a host of disturbing questions in the process. While the program's existence is now public, the TSA has kept nearly everything else about the program secret," Hugh Handeyside, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project, said in a 2018 news release. "Travelers deserve to know how this surveillance is being implemented, what its consequences are for Americans, and for how long the TSA is retaining the information it gathers. What we've seen so far is troubling, which is why we're demanding that the TSA hand over records it's been hiding from the public. This is a much needed step towards transparency and accountability for an agency with a track record of using unreliable and unscientific techniques, such as 'behavior detection,' to screen and monitor travelers who have done nothing wrong," he added. DHS pointed out a specific situation in which William Shaheen, the husband of New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, was removed from the list after reaching out to the former head of TSA during the Biden administration in 2023, according to CBS News. DHS said that he "traveled with a known or suspected terrorist" three times. The senator's office confirmed to CBS News she had reached out to TSA after her husband dealt with intense security obstacles while flying, but was unaware of any specific lists her husband was or was not on. The outlet reported that he was flying with an attorney was subject of the terrorism flag. The department also cited Tulsi Gabbard's past placement on the Silent Partner Quiet Skies list. Fox News Digital reached out to Shaheen's office for comment.
