California School Official Abruptly Resigns After Video Accuses Her of Sex Abuse

Jan. 21, 2014— -- An assistant principal in a California school abruptly resigned on the same day that a woman posted a YouTube video claiming the woman had molested her for years when she was a middle school student.

The accuser, who is now 28, said she posted the video because when she finally worked up the courage to report the alleged abuse, she learned that the statute of limitations on the accusation had expired. She said she went public, instead, to make sure the woman would never work with children again.

The YouTube video was posted on Friday by a woman who identified herself as "Jamie X" and in the video she appeared to confront the alleged abuser over the phone.

Jamie X, who says she is now a mother, claims in the video that she was a 12-year-old student at Chemawa Middle School in Riverside, Calif., when the abuse allegedly occurred.

"She gets away with everything she has done, so I decided I'm going to call her to get some answers from her," Jamie X says in the video titled "A call to my childhood rapist teacher."

The video has been viewed more than 300,000 times since it was posted last Friday.

Alhambra Unified School District Superintendent Laura Tellez-Gagliano said in a statement staff received a link to the video after it was posted and immediately reported it to the Alhambra Police Department.

Later that day, Tellez-Gagliano said Andrea Cardosa, who was named by Jamie as her abuser, resigned from her position as an assistant principal at Alhambra High School.

Cardosa was not able to be reached for comment and it was unclear if she had hired an attorney. She has not been charged with any crime.

"She told me that my family didn't love me. That nobody cared about me, that she was my only friend and the only person who cared about me," Jamie said at a news conference on Monday.

"I think other people are going to be coming forward," she added. "It's as true as can be. You don't resign if you didn't do anything."

Jamie's attorney, David Ring, said he wants to find out if Chemawa Middle School ever investigated Cardosa.

Ring said it appeared she was allowed to resign "and perhaps being given a positive recommendation so that she could go on to find employment elsewhere."

"That's typically called passing the trash," he said. "If that is in fact true, everyone would agree that's absolutely outrageous conduct."

Jamie Confronts Teacher 16 Years Later

The school could not be reached to respond to Ring's comments.

In the emotional video, Jamie, who says her "heart is pounding," dials the phone number for Alhambra High School and asks for Cardosa.

"I was only 12 years old when I met you," she told the woman on the other end of the line who identified herself as Cardosa. "Do you realize that you brainwashed me and that you manipulated me and what you did was wrong?"

"Yes and I regret it," the woman says.

"Do you know that I am completely messed up and that I have so many issues because of you?" Jamie asks.

"I just wanted to help you," the woman says.

"It's completely shocking to me that you are an assistant principal," Jamie says. "Are you doing this with other students too? Is this how you help them?"

The woman on the other end of the line expresses remorse and says she is ashamed of what happened before Jamie hangs up the call.

"Not an I'm sorry or anything, just she regrets it," Jamie says. She adds that she is "shaking like a leaf" after the call.

"I just hope that people share this video and she gets what she deserves. She shouldn't be around children," Jamie X says. "She ruined my life. Why should she get a life?"

Alhambra Police Department said in a statement they were notified by school administrators of the video and "took immediate investigative steps and determined that there were no reported crimes or victims in Alhambra."

After a preliminary investigation, Alhambra police said they forwarded the case to authorities in Riverside, where the alleged acts are said to have occurred.

Jamie, who said she has a child who is around the age she was when the alleged abuse began, decided to come forward for the sake of her children.

"It took a lot for me to come forward," she said on Monday, "but I kept thinking about my own kids and how I didn't wouldn't want anything happening to them."