what took me this long ♪ this is a special edition of "nightline." "passing the trash." teachers who cross the line. tonight -- >> he started touching us in improper places. >> predatory teachers allegedly grooming and abusing young students. >> at the beginning it was all about establishing himself as a friend. >> some former students now saying their painful claims were ignored. >> the thing i remember the most was feeling the warmth of his breath next to my face. >> and accused teachers shuffled to different schools in different states, sometimes even with recommendations. >> it's the easy way out. get them out of our school. let someone else deal with him. >> the practice known as passing the trash. the brave women speaking out against it. this special edition of "nightline" will be right back. e right back.

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sometimes even providing recommendations and then looking the other way. now two brave young women are speaking out to end this. here's abc's amy robach. >> he started touching us in improper places. >> reporter: this is the footage of a young girl alleging abuse in her elementary school classroom. >> you weren't comfortable in that chair? >> yeah. >> reporter: yeneli hernandez struggling to find the right words to describe the inexplicable, as part of the 2009 police investigation into alleged abuse. >> he touched us like right here and all that. and sometimes he stuck his hands deeper in. and then i used to always wear my jacket and then never wear skirts, i always used to wear pants because i was afraid. >> so when you say he stuck his hands right here? was that on your clothes or on your skin?

>> on my skin. >> reporter: she alleges she was preyed upon by her fourth grade teacher gary gregor. ten years later she says those memories still haunt her. >> he's standing next to so many children who are unaware of the person he is. >> reporter: a person, it turns out, who had a trail of allegations of misconduct following him for years, across two school districts, from state to state, classroom to classroom. yeneli says the class was different from the start. gregor showering a group of girls with gifts. >> i remember getting a white t-shirt with purple flowers on it. it said my name on it. i got a little notebook. it was green. my favorite color. >> reporter: singling them out for special treatment. >> he would have us sit next to him in the classroom. as we had elected officials, council members. and i was always on that council. i felt like i had some kind of power in the class.

especially above the other students who didn't get elected. >> reporter: in front of the classroom, seated next to gregor, yeneli says she became a target for abuse. >> i drew dots on the spots where we were touched. and different colors are for the different girls. i just felt strange to have to talk about it at such a young age when i wasn't comfortable even saying the words. >> he told you to go in the closet and then what? >> then he said he wanted us to kiss him. >> the thing i remember most was feeling the warmth of his breath next to my face on my ear. his lips touching mine. it didn't feel right and i didn't want it and i wanted it to end, but i was so afraid. >> reporter: her story is familiar. it is an explosive reality. the department of education estimates 4.5 million students experience sexual misconduct at

the hands of a school employee some time between kindergarten and 12th grade. another government report found that in its study, on average, one child predator in schools had as many as 73 victims. sometimes without ever being caught. >> serious loophole in the state system make it easy for predators to evade detection. >> school leaders continue to allow predatory teachers to move from one classroom to another. >> reporter: passing the trash is how many refer to it. an easy way for administrators to unload problematic teachers onto other schools while hiding alleged misconduct through confidential agreements and other means, sometimes even providing recommendations, then looking the other way. >> they basically say, grease the wheels so that you can go get a job somewhere else, as long as it's not here at our school. >> reporter: attorney dave ring says he has litigated passing the trash cases for more than 20 years. why do you think administrators

allow these teachers to just move on? >> it's the easy way out. it's the quickest, most efficient solution to get rid of a dangerous teacher. get them out of our school. let someone else deal with them. hold our breath. >> reporter: gary gregor taught fifth grade in utah, in 1995 the state charging him with sexual abuse of a child. a district judge dismissed the charges citing insufficient proof and the state board of education issued gregor a reprimand. he turned up as a teacher in two other schools in montana and new mexico, before becoming a fourth grade teacher in santa fe. there, during a field trip in 2004, museum staff reported seeing gregor inappropriately touching students. the school investigated, finding that gregor hugged and tickled the girls. the principal writing, i believe this may be grooming behavior on the part of dr. gregor. later that year, santa fe public schools and gregor signed an agreement that he would resign and not apply for another

position within the school district. and in exchange he would receive a neutral recommendation. meanwhile, gregor stands firm that no wrongdoing ever took place. >> you shouldn't allow a teacher to have a neutral recommendation who you've given this kind of reprimand to. >> reporter: agreements like this are what congress aimed to stamp out when it passed a 2015 law requiring states to prohibit helping a school employee find a new job after sexual misconduct is found or even suspected. >> the los angeles school district not only hid the truth, it provided three references. >> reporter: but the law didn't require background checks on school employees, and with 45 states yet to implement regulations, critics say it has no teeth. yeneli was one of the few to come forward to accuse their teacher by reporting the alleged abuse to the principal, ruby montoya. >> her response was he was a good friend of hers, he wouldn't do it. >> reporter: montoya placed the blame on the girls, even went so

far as going into the classroom to reprimand them. >> she told the class we shouldn't be making false accusations, she was pretty much calling us liars. >> reporter: after the alleged public scolding she kept quiet. >> i felt trapped. i couldn't escape from it. who was going to believe me? i was a little girl, he was an adult. >> reporter: her friend told her own parents prompting them to call the police who conducted an investigation. once the police forwarded their report to the district attorney's office, the case languished. to date, there has been no prosecution. mr. attorney general, it's been nearly eight years since a young girl and her family brought charges. what do you know about why no legal action was taken? >> we have a system right now that favors employment rights over student safety ryes. it's a real wakeup call for the country. the burden is unfortunately put on the backs of young student realize we have predators who are trained to groom, and simply there were too many systemic

failures involved. most importantly what's detrimental here are administrators are knowingly allowing an educator that's high risk to go seek employment in other districts in other states. i think that is a horrific tale that needs to be remedied immediately. >> reporter: a year-long investigation into passing the trash by "usa today" reporter steve riley found it was extremely rare for administrators to be held criminally accountable. >> nationwide, across decades of cases, we found one. a local prosecutor went forward with charges against administrators. >> reporter: ten years after those difficult days in gregor's fourth grade class yeneli has filed civil suits against gregor and montoya. "nightline's" repeated requests for interview with gregor have gone unanswered. in a statement to abc news through her attorney, principal montoya said she has dedicated herself to public education for over 25 years and that she absolutely denied yeneli's allegations adding, they are not supported by the case facts and miss montoya has faith all

claims against her will be dismissed in the court proceeding. >> this is the first step. and the judge issues this scheduling order. >> reporter: yeneli, now in college, has a simple wish. >> i would only hope that he would tell the truth. by not saying the truth, he is pretty much calling me a liar straight to my face. saying that a little fourth grade 9-year-old girl is lying about something that hurt her. >> reporter: she may now also face gregor in a criminal court. >> i'm pleased to announce we have gathered and secured enough evidence that we'll be moving forward and have notified the individual in question for a grand jury hearing. i was appalled by this case. we are pursuing all options of any potential individuals who failed to provide safety, security, and protection for these children. >> reporter: yeneli has forged ahead and dreams of making a positive difference in the lives of children. >> i've considered being a teacher. i love children so much. i know there's so much i can do

for them. >> reporter: but the damage can be crippling for some. when we come back we go inside the mind of a once-vulnerable 16-year-old student who blamed herself for years, now stepping out of the shadows to tell her story, one with a devastating twist. >> when i got pregnant, this part of me that i thought i was, this woman who was sophisticated and like worldly and wise, just fell apart. >> and revealing the grooming tactics of her abuser who she alleged was passed from school to school. digestive sensitivities, ou have some foods leave your stomach in knots... (groan) ...with bloating, discomfort, cramps, and gas. (sigh) try pronourish drink, a unique nutritional drink that's high in protein and fiber. and pronourish has no gluten or high fructose corn syrup, and it's low in fodmap ingredients that may trigger digestive sensitivities. it's your delicious anytime, anywhere mini-meal or snack. pronourish.

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♪ i'll be there to comfort you >> the assembly the other day was one of my best moments here. ♪ i'll be there to comfort you >> the assembly the other day was one of my best moments here. it was one of the most unified times at this school that i've spent. >> reporter: these should be the precious memories of a high school senior. instead, they are tainted. >> he first kissed me in this park in l.a. it was scary. it felt weird and gross. and then, you know, once he started abusing me, it was just like accelerated very, very quickly. >> reporter: the perpetrator, joseph koetters, english teacher at marlborough, a prestigious all-girls school in los angeles where chelsea burkett says he groomed her for an inappropriate relationship that led to abuse. >> at the beginning it was all about establishing himself as a friend. it started with like academic discussion, moved to more personal. like we talked about like music. it happened so incrementally that it's hard to even perceive the change. >> what kinds of things would he say to you?

>> he got me very invested in this idea that i was like special, beautiful, funny, sophisticated woman. >> you were equally responsible for the relationship? >> absolutely. >> that's what he made you feel. >> it's a 16-year-old girl's head. all you want to hear is that you're an adult and you're beautiful and you're smart. it's a very powerful sell. >> reporter: it wasn't until years after graduating from marlborough that chelsea found the courage to report her abuse to the school, prompting the school to launch an investigation into koetters. the investigation found a long-held pattern of sexual misconduct in the 14 years koetters taught there, including often using his position of authority to prompt improper discussions and invitations for further contact. chelsea believes her former teacher is another example of what it is to pass the trash, now alleging in a civil suit that his was a pattern of bad behavior that began before marlborough when ketters taught

at a school called viewpoint. >> turns out he only taught there one year because he got fired for having physical altercation with a student. but what happened was mysteriously enough, viewpoint gave mr. koetters glowing recommendations. >> reporter: for chelsea, what started as mental manipulation eventually crossed all lines. and then this. >> carl's jr. is where i found out i was pregnant. i remember like shoving a pregnancy test to the bottom of the trash can. when i got pregnant, this part of me that i thought i was, this like woman who was sophisticated and worldly and wise, just fell apart. so i continued to go through the motions but i was just kind of dead inside. >> reporter: they says her trauma reached a crisis on a winter morning when driving to a friend's house to work on a school project. >> i got like massive cramps in the car. and i was really, really scared. and i started texting him. he said, i think you're having a miscarriage. and sure enough, i was having contractions. and by the time we got to her

house, i ran straight in the front door, straight past her mom, and miscarried in the bathroom. >> all by yourself, and you told no one what was going on? >> i hated myself. like i hated myself. and it was my fault. you know? >> you blamed yourself? >> 100%. >> reporter: the shame and self-blaming lasted more than a decade. how do you live with a secret like that? >> it -- it manifests in all kinds of ways, right? be it depression. i became like severely bulimic when i got pregnant and was for over seven years. >> it was literally eating you up on the inside? >> absolutely. i tried to kill myself in college. my sort of working assumption in life was that i wasn't worth anything. >> reporter: then a moment in june of 2014 that made her see differently. when another marlborough alum broke her silence with similar allegations against the same teacher.

this essay on xo jane by michaela gilbert lurie went viral among the school community. >> she talked about being sexually harassed by koetters, about him trying to initiate an inappropriate relationship. >> reporter: the article sparking in chelsea awareness that she was not alone. >> i met michaela. and she said something like, you're one of nine who's come to me. >> what was that moment like? >> that was the realization that, like, oh my god, this guy's a predator. >> it wasn't me, it was him? >> yeah. >> reporter: fearing the abuse may be continuing unabated, chelsea came forward to marlborough in a letter. >> this time around i'm not going to stick my head down and hold my breath. >> reporter: the school called the police and finally, 15 years after her abuse began, chelsea had her long-awaited day of reckoning facing koetters in court. >> how do you plead? >> guilty. >> reporter: her voice quavered. eventually it all imploded. i found out i was pregnant in a

dirty carl's jr. bathroom. it cannot be overstated mr. koetters continued targeting marlborough girls for over a decade after i graduated. >> reporter: he received a one-year jail sentence of which he served approximately half. >> it will never be okay, it will never feel good, it will never be right. but i don't feel i have to hide anymore. >> reporter: chelsea has filed civil cases not only against koetters but also against both schools, marlborough and viewpoint. >> the fact that these grown adults who are literally tasks with protecting girls day in and day out could just be so flagrantly negligent, i don't understand why schools aren't held to account more. >> reporter: attorneys for koetters, viewpoint, and marlborough declined "nightline's" request for interviews. marlborough provide statement it had no knowledge of koetters' sexual abuse of the two former students until our alumna courageously reported her abuse to the school in 2014, and when the school hired him koetters received recommendations from

his prior employer. viewpoint denied these claims saying in a statement koetters was terminated after he shoved a male student during an altercation. there was no sexual misconduct of any kind that came to the attention of the school. adding, while koetters did obtain a recommendation letter from his department chair, he did so by assuring that teacher that he had disclosed the shoving incident to the school where he was applying for a position. >> here's the scary thing. he can't teach in california. that doesn't necessarily mean he can't move to some other state and obtain a teaching credential. i've seen it happen. it's got to come to an end. the schools, the teachers, the teachers unions, the let me for ledge stores, they have got to step and up make it happen. >> reporter: for chelsea the road to healing has been long and arduous, but she says she is learning to stop blaming herself. >> i'm sure you've thought about what you wish you could have told yourself at that moment when you were 16. >> had you asked me that a year

ago, i probably would have said, i would have yelled at myself. shaken myself. but now, gosh, i wish someone had been there to tell me to speak up at the time. i think my life would have ended up a lot differently. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm amy robach in los angeles. >> our thanks to amy robach for that report. and we'll be right back. enough! i've tried enough laxatives to cover the eastern seaboard. i've climbed a mount everest of fiber. probiotics? enough! (avo) if you've had enough, tell your doctor what you've tried and how long you've been at it. linzess works differently from laxatives. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. it can help relieve your belly pain, and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are easier to pass. do not give linzess to children under six, and it should not be given to children six to less than eighteen. it may harm them.

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for more information o for more information on our investigation and what parents should know, you can go to abcnews.com. thanks for watching "nightline" tonight. as always we're online 24/7 on our "nightline" facebook page. thank you again for watching and good night.