Riverside County HS Principal Failed To Report Child Sex Abuse: RSO

EASTVALE, CA — A high school principal in Eastvale failed to report to authorities that one of his teachers allegedly had sexual contact with students, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department announced over the weekend.

Principal Greg Anderson, Ed.D, of Eleanor Roosevelt High School failed to report the allegations to law enforcement as required under state law, according to the sheriff's department.

The 44-year-old Eastvale resident was arrested, cited and released Friday on the misdemeanor charge. The arrest took place just days before former Eleanor Roosevelt High School teacher Chad Joseph Costello was scheduled for arraignment on felony charges of assault with intent to commit mayhem, two counts of sexual penetration with bodily injury on a minor over 14 years old, attempted sexual penetration with a foreign object on a child under 18, and three counts of a lewd act on a child 14-15 years of age.

Costello's arraignment was scheduled Tuesday.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into Costello began in April 2023. The Anaheim man was arrested in November and subsequently posted $75,000 bail. He was 44 years old at the time of his arrest.

The Corona-Norco Unified School District initially placed Costello on administrative leave but ultimately dismissed him, according to the sheriff's department.

In a released statement about Anderson's arrest, the district said it was committed to providing a safe learning environment.

"The district has a longstanding commitment to adhering to mandated reporting procedures," the statement read in part. "This situation underscores the importance of trust and accountability within our educational community. As such, we will conduct a thorough review of our existing protocols and procedures to ensure reporting requirements are clear and followed at all levels of the organization."

Under California law, educators are "mandated reporters," meaning they must report child abuse and/or neglect. The law spells out specifics on how the reporting must be carried out. It's not clear how Anderson allegedly violated state law in the Costello case.

Costello is not the only former Eleanor Roosevelt High School educator accused of sex acts with students.

Last summer, ERHS teacher Amanda Leigh Quinonez, then 31, was ordered to stand trial for alleged sex acts with a boy in one of her classes.

During a July preliminary hearing, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Walter Kubelun found there was sufficient evidence to warrant a trial for Quinonez on felony charges of a lewd act with a minor, as well as three counts of oral copulation of a child, two counts of distributing explicit material to a minor and one count of annoying a child under 18 years old.

Quinonez was arrested in April 2022 and released from jail on a $50,000 bail bond. Her case is still ongoing.

Anderson is not accused of wrongdoing in Quinonez's case. In a letter sent to parents and guardians following her arrest, Anderson addressed the alleged "inappropriate relationship" and affirmed that the Corona-Norco Unified School District has "zero tolerance for any behavior that endangers our students."

According to sheriff's investigators, Quinonez was a language arts teacher and water polo coach at the high school and allegedly began communicating with the victim in the fall of 2020, leading to multiple encounters.

Quinonez allegedly sent the youth nude photos, leading to intimate meetings, according to investigators. The locations of the meetings were not disclosed.

Quinonez had been a teacher Eleanor Roosevelt since 2016.