Los Osos High School ex-coach David Riden charged with child porn

Posted on September 10, 2021     |     Sexual Abuse

David Riden a former assistant coach at a San Bernardino County high school has been charged with child pornography after school officials discovered a hidden camera in a girls restroom.

Riden, 52, was arrested by San Bernardino County sheriff’s detectives on Aug. 25 after investigators determined he had placed the camera at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga. Detectives searched Riden’s Rancho Cucamonga home and vehicle and seized multiple digital media devices, authorities said.

The hidden camera, which was discovered by another school staff member, looked like a cellphone charger that had been plugged into a bathroom wall, attorneys for some students said. But the camera was actually recording images in the locker room and near the pool of female students, including members of the girls water polo team. Authorities say club teams and even community pool users could have been filmed.

Riden had worked at the school for six years as an assistant football coach and boys locker room attendant before the investigation. He resigned Aug. 24, the day before his arrest. In a court appearance last week, he pleaded not guilty to charges of felony possession of child pornography and two felony counts of using a minor for sex acts.

Sheriff’s detectives are continuing to examine the devices taken from Riden’s home, and San Bernardino County Dist. Atty. Jason Anderson said additional charges are expected.Any other victims of David Riden  or anyone with information on the case should contact the San Bernardino  County Sheriff’s Department.

Manly, Stewart & Finaldi has represented hundreds of child sexual abuse victims of teachers and coaches in California schools and Universities. We have secured settlements totaling more  than $30 million for families of victims abused in the San Bernardino County schools. We were the lead attorneys helping sexual abuse victims in recover $852 million from the University of Southern California.  We are also the lead attorneys representing Olympic athletes and victims of former US Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Team Doctor Larry Nassar and secured a $500 million settlement for our clients.   In each of these cases we have helped victims and families get justice by conducting a thorough investigation of the organization and the school . We secured a settlement of $140 million on behalf of 81 child sexual abuse victims at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. This was the largest child sexual abuse settlement by a public school district in history. In many cases we have discovered that administrators and executives know that the perpetrator was a danger to children and either did nothing or actively covered up the crimes.