Another former Visalia student awarded $3.9M settlement in molestation case
A second former Mt. Whitney High School student secured a multi-million-dollar settlement as part of an ongoing molestation case against a former school employee.
Los Angeles-based law firm Taylor & Ring recently secured a $3,937,500 settlement for the former student. The plaintiff alleges that DeJaun Jones, a former campus supervisor at the high school, molested her during the 2022-23 school year.
The law firm also represents another accuser, who was awarded $8 million in November.
Jones has pleaded guilty to all 11 counts against him. According to the Tulare County DA’s office, Jones pleaded guilty to charges including lewd acts upon a child under 14 or 15, showing pornography to a minor and contacting a minor for a sexual offense.
In exchange for pleading guilty, Jones will be sentenced to five years in prison. His hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Tulare County Superior Court.
In addition, he will have to register as a sex offender for life.
If Jones’s case had gone to trial and was found guilty on all counts, the maximum sentence would be nine years in state prison.
“The defendant pleaded guilty to all criminal counts filed against him by this office, and prosecutors made no offers in this case,” said Stuart Anderson, communications director for the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare.
Attorney Brendan Gilbert represents both the accusers and called Jones a “textbook predator” during a November phone call with The Bee.
Jones had previously worked at Mt. Whitney High School as a girls’ track and field coach before being let go in 2013 over accusations of sending inappropriate texts to students, Gilbert said.
About a decade later, Jones was re-hired at the school after applying for an open campus supervisor position — and he’s accused of using the same tactics to groom students.
“He would weight train them, and he would have them send photographs of their body, before and after,” Gilbert said. “But really, he just wanted to have inappropriate pictures sent to him. So he, I mean, he truly hit the ground running in 2022 and did the same exact thing targeting various female athletes in different sports.”
Jones was arrested in April 2023 following reports of an inappropriate relationship between him and a 15-year-old student.
This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 2:51 PM.
