EspañolBeverly Hills Piano Teacher Hovanes Jihanyan (Full Name: Hovanes John Jihanyan) Accused of Sexually Abusing Minor Student
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (February 27, 2025) – A Beverly Hills music teacher identified as Hovanes Jihanyan was arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a minor student.
Los Angeles County prosecutors are claiming that the abuse took place between August 1 and November 9, 2024. The victim turned 14 during the period of alleged abuse.
Hovanes Jihanyan was acting as the child’s piano teacher during the alleged misconduct. The defendant is currently being held on a $1 million bail.
A full investigation into the actions of Hovanes Jihanyan remains ongoing.
Liability for Teacher Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse in the K-12 school system remains a serious problem across California and the United States. According to one study in Sage Journals, “a 2004 Department of Education report [estimates] that 9.6% of K-12 students in the U.S. had experienced either verbal, visual, or physical educator misconduct at some point during their school career.” There are a number of steps that schools should take in order to prevent child sexual abuse.
- Schools should establish clear codes of conduct with respect to inappropriate behavior between teachers and students.
- Schools should have anonymous reporting mechanisms to help identify misconduct.
- Schools should prevent teachers and individual students from being isolated with one another.
- Schools should ensure that all faculty undergo a thorough background check.
Schools must adequately supervise students at all times of the day and take measures to protect them from foreseeable sources of harm. Consider, for example, Taylor v. Oakland Scavenger Co., 17 Cal. 2d 594 [110 P.2d 1044], “It is the duty of the school authorities to supervise at all times the conduct of the children on the school grounds and to enforce those rules and regulations necessary to their protection.” A school may have made a number of mistakes that contributed to child abuse.
- School officials may have failed to follow up on allegations of misconduct.
- School officials may have failed to implement safeguarding procedures.
- School officials may have known that a teacher posed a risk of harm and failed to act.
Child sexual abuse is often highly preventable. It is much more likely when schools or other organizations are not following safety protocols. Sadly, though, schools will often do everything in their power to deny responsibility if a student in their care is sexually abused. This is why it is so important to have any instance of misconduct investigated by an outside agency. The family of any child who is sexually abused by a teacher in Los Angeles may be able to seek some measure of accountability through a civil claim.
Investigating Los Angeles Teacher Sexual Abuse
We at the Carrillo Law Firm, LLP were deeply concerned to hear about the allegations against Hovanes Jihanyan. Any person that may have information should reach out to the Los Angeles Police Department. There needs to be a thorough investigation into the potential scope of the misconduct.
Have you or someone that you care about been sexually abused by a teacher in Los Angeles County? You may have legal recourse. Our team of teacher sexual abuse attorneys is committed to helping survivors and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. Whether you just have legal questions or need a free, independent investigation into any particular incident, we are here for you. You can contact us anytime at 626-799-9375.
