A former Red Mountain High School student plans to sue Mesa’s school district and police department, claiming more than a dozen adults could have halted a sexual relationship with a teacher that started when she was a teenager.
In a notice of claim filed Thursday, Tiffany Franco alleges Mesa Public Schools administrators, teachers and an on-campus Mesa police officer ignored persistent rumors about a sexual relationship between her and Alan Grantham, a special-education teacher and assistant football coach.
“This is not the case of one bad apple ruining the bunch, this is a case of failure to install boundaries between teachers and students,” the claim states. “This is a case of institutionalized child predation. And this is a case of people who we put our trust in to protect our children, absolutely failing at every turn.”
Grantham denied the allegations through an attorney in August 2019. He has not been criminally charged for any offense linked to Franco’s claims.