PEORIA — A former Peoria High School student has notified the Peoria Unified School District that they intend to sue, claiming negligence after being a victim in the Patrick Battillo case.
Patrick Battillo, also known in the Valley as Suns Superfan “Mr. ORNG,” was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in April for child sex crimes. Battillo was convicted of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. Battillo was the former basketball coach for Peoria High School and was arrested two years ago.
Battillo was found to have solicited sexual content from his students. The claim detailed the alleged victim’s correspondence with Battillo, including the solicitation of the video of the student who was a minor at the time.
A new notice of claim filed by a former student and his attorney claims the student was a victim.
“The district knew or should have known the dangers posed by Battillo. PUSD acted with gross negligence in its hiring, retention, and supervisory responsibilities, repeatedly failing to protect [claimant],” the claim stated.
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The document continues to say the conduct was not an isolated incident and that the district and Peoria High “failed to report and prevent a decade-long pattern of staff misconduct.” In the claim, the attorney for the alleged victim lays out other former educators, including another former Peoria High coach who was acquitted on charges of sexual contact with a minor. It also listed a former Sun Valley Elementary educator who was convicted for child sex crimes in 2023.
The claim said as a result of “negligence and breach of duty” by the district, the alleged victim was “sexually exploited, suffered emotional trauma, distress and permanent psychological injury.”
Attorneys for the former student say they will settle for $650,000 to resolve the claims.
ABC15 reached out to the district for comment but has not received a response yet.
This is the fourth notice of claim or lawsuit served to the district in the last year as the investigation continues into two former Centennial High educators accused of misconduct with the same student. Most recently, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office sent the case back to Peoria Police for a second time as they continue their investigation.
Two other claims, one for $20 million and another for $7 million, are connected to the Centennial High investigation. Another had to do with a former Sun Valley Elementary teacher who was convicted in 2023.
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