A former teacher at a prestigious girls ' school , attended by some of Los Angeles ' most affluent families , has been sued by a former student , alleging sexual abuse . An unnamed 30-year-old former Marlborough School student filed the lawsuit against Joseph Koetters , who taught English at the Hancock Park school which charges $ 35,000-per-year . The lawsuit alleges that when Koetters was in his early-to-mid 30s he took part in a yearlong sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student , which began in the 2000-2001 school year . Joseph Koetters , a former English Teacher at Marlborough School in Los Angeles , is being sued by an unnamed 30-year-old former student who alleges that he sexually abused her . In the lawsuit , unnamed teachers and school officials are held responsible for not ending the relationship , according to The Hollywood Reporter . Marlborough ignored allegations against Koetters at the two previous schools he had worked at , the lawsuit claims . He spent time working at Pasadena 's Polytechnic School and Calabasas ' Viewpoint School . Marlborough officials are accused of ignoring complaints made by other female students during his time working at the school . The former teacher was arrested in February and charged with two counts of oral copulation of a person under 18 and two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object , all of which allegedly took place during his time at Marlborough . Koetters pleaded not guilty and could face up to five years in prison if he is convicted . The woman who filed the civil lawsuit is the same one mentioned in the criminal case , her attorney David M. Ring told the Los Angeles Times . The lawsuit alleges that when Koetters was in his early-to-mid 30s he took part in a yearlong sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student , which began in the 2000-2001 school year . The lawsuit claims that unnamed teachers and staff members did not stop the relationship or properly discipline Koetters . Koetters also allegedly impregnated the woman , who then had a miscarriage , according to the criminal lawsuit . The alleged victim of both lawsuits spoke to police in July after a different former Marlborough student wrote an online essay accusing the school of not properly acting upon her allegations of Koetters ' inappropriate contact with her . Mikaela Gilbert-Lurie 's essay , published on xoJane , revealed an inappropriate relationship that Koetters instigated with her in 2011 while she was a 16-year-old junior . In her essay , Gilbert-Lurie said that Koetters crossed the student-teacher boundary when she asked to interview him for the school newspaper . He agreed , replying 'It 's a date ' to her email . Later when they met up outside the school , she wrote that he dodged her questions and turned the conversation towards romantic poetry , saying he could lend her one of his favorite books . At the end of the conversation , his hands brushed against her knee . Other students , including the one who filed the lawsuit , came forward after Mikaela Gilbert-Lurie ( pictured ) wrote an online essay about her experiences at Marlborough with Koetters . While Gilbert-Lurie admitted in her essay that the flirting made her feel good at first , she became less comfortable with their relationship when he started getting more explicit in their email conversations . He said he knew how to draw boundaries with other students but not with her and talked about how her short school skirt made her 'so alluring ' . A few day later , the teen wrote him saying they needed to stop so she could focus on finals and 'just being 16 ' . Koetters responded 'Ugh , Ok , ' but continued to harass her in class and through email , the teen claimed . With the support of her brother , she decided to tell her parents . In 2011 , Gilbert-Lurie and her parents informed the school about Koetters ' inappropriate behavior , prompting an investigation . Head teacher , Barbara Wagner , told the family that the complaint would be taken seriously - and was allegedly advised by the president of the board of trustees to handle the matter internally . When asked if there had been previous complaints against Koetters , it appeared that the head teacher failed to mention a similar complaint in 2005 . It does not appear that complaint by a female student was credited at the time , according to the magazine . Koetters , who had taught at Marlborough for 14 years , was sent to sexual harassment training following Gilbert-Lurie 's complaints and stripped of his position as chair of the English department - but was not fired because it was a 'first-time offense ' . Marlborough private school in LA costs $ 35,000-a-year and attracts female students from some of Los Angeles most prestigious families . Gilbert-Lurie was moved to another English class . Marlborough claimed last year that they were unaware of Gilbert-Lurie 's allegation from her xojane essay that Koetters had touched her knee . The University of Pennsylvania student said that the school had been informed . Koetters remained at the school alongside Gilbert-Lurie for another year before starting a new job at the elite Polytechnic School in Pasadena . Marlborough School announced in the fall of 2014 that Wagner would resign by the end of June 2014 , after it was revealed that she did not properly respond to students ' allegations against Koetters . Marlborough School was not immediately available for comment .
Joseph Koetters has been sued by an unnamed Marlborough student , 30 . The suit alleges that the teacher was fired for having sex with a male student.