Long Beach Private School, After-School Sports Director Sued for Molestation

LONG BEACH, CA -- A Long Beach private school and a former Seal Beach sports camp owner are being by sued a man who claimed he was molested.

The 23-year-old plaintiff is identified only as Stephen W. in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that names as defendants Scott Durzo and the Westerly School of Long Beach, which offers elementary and middle school education.

The suit filed Monday alleges sexual abuse of a minor, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. The plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages.

Patrick Brown, head of the Westerly School, said Tuesday he had not seen the lawsuit. He, however, said the school takes such allegations seriously and will respond appropriately after the complaint is served.

Durzo, now 50, is the founder of the long-running Seal Beach-based Scott Durzo's Total Sport Camp. He is awaiting trial in Orange County Superior Court on 20 counts alleging lewd acts with a child.

According to the lawsuit, Durzo was director of Westerly's after-school sports program in 2008-09. The plaintiff worked as an assistant in the program and was supervised by Durzo, according to the complaint.

Durzo began "grooming" Stephen W. in the fall of 2008 by showering him with gifts and personal favors, the suit alleges. Durzo's goal was to "get Stephen W. to trust him so he could then sexually exploit, manipulate and abuse him," the plaintiff alleges.

Westerly teachers and administrators began commenting on the "inappropriate amount of time" Durzo was spending the with plaintiff both on and off campus, but did not investigate the relationship, the suit alleges.

The plaintiff, then 16 years old and having difficulties in his personal life, was vulnerable as Durzo escalated his "touchy, feely" behavior to outright sexual molestation, the lawsuit alleges.

The number of times Durzo abused Stephen W. are "too numerous to count, but averaged several times per week," according to the complaint, which does not state where the alleged molestations occurred.

The alleged abuses stopped when the plaintiff left his job at the school at the end of the 2008-09 school year, the suit says.

Durzo was not rehired for the next school year, possibly because other complaints against him surfaced concerning other minors, according to the suit. Stephen W. says he did not tell anyone until he confided in his parents in 2014.

They reported what their son told them to Seal Beach police, who affixed a wireless microphone to the plaintiff during a meeting with Durzo in which his former supervisor admitted sexually abusing him, the suit alleges.

Durzo was arrested in 2014 for molesting a then-13-year-old boy at his sports camp starting 2015. At the time of his arrest, investigators were concerned there may be more victims because Durzo has been running his camps for 30 years and was also a basketball coach at Los Alamitos High School, said Deputy District Attorney Bobby Taghavi.

Durzo is charged with nine counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14, seven counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14 or 15, a count of sodomy with a minor and a count of displaying pornography to a minor, all felonies. He also faces a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child.

Durzo could face up to 30 years in prison if he is convicted at trial.

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— City News Service and Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.