$1.4M settlement in child sex abuse suit involving former SLVUSD admin

On July 2, Melissa Chowning, the woman who accused former San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District administrator Ned Hearn of sexually abusing her as a teenager (when he was in his late 20s and her swim coach) told the Solano County Superior Court they had reached a partial settlement. Other court papers confirm the top-line number: $1.4 million.

According to Hearn’s lawyer, he won’t have to pay a cent.

Chowning’s filing notes a dismissal would be “conditional” on other aspects of the civil case being sorted out; it points to a new trial in the offing, as Hearn’s former employer (Dixon Unified School District) and that city’s swim club (the Dixon Dolphins) wrangle over liability questions (neither of those parties responded to a request for comment by deadline).

Just days later, when the parent of a kid in Santa Cruz Junior Guards (essentially an up-and-coming lifeguard-to-be) asked a senior official with the affiliated fundraising organization—the Santa Cruz Junior Guards Boosters—about the status of the case, the response was terse.

“All cases have been closed. There is no pending trial. You can research it for yourself,” wrote Santa Cruz Jr. Guards Boosters President Adrienne McConnell, a commentator for The Rowing Channel who is one of Hearn’s former SLVUSD coworkers. “Please contact the City if you have any further questions or concerns, but his position as a volunteer is completely legitimate. We will not discuss this further, as it does not involve us.”

Junior guards programs teach kids ocean safety and lifeguarding skills, and it can be the first step on the path to a high-paying job with a local municipality. These are quite popular with local youth, who get the opportunity to compete in various contests against their peers.

This parent actually had already attempted to contact the City of Santa Cruz liaison about the matter earlier, but didn’t receive a response.

It is true that the official writ for the 5-7-day trial (set to begin July 7, 2026) about Hearn’s behavior wasn’t handed down until a few days later.

And to be fair to McConnell, the actions of a Dixon Unified lawyer had just added another speed bump to the road toward resolving the matter—brought under the #meetoo era AB 218 law that opened a temporary window for older child sex abuse lawsuits to be heard.

On July 9, the Dolphins and DUSD were supposed to appear in court to determine when the Hearn-Chowning situation would be set for trial this time.

But Ethan M. Lowry, of San Francisco-based Bertrand, Fox, Elliot, Osman & Wenzel, figured, since he was to appear remotely, he could double dip—popping into the hearing while also attending a deposition in another case.

“I intended to sign out of the deposition in order to attend the Trial Setting Conference,” Lowry later admitted to the court, as he successfully wriggled out of a $250 fine. “I inadvertently failed to attend.”

Normally, the newspaper does not identify victims of sexual assault; however, Chowning has chosen to go on the record with her claims.

The Press Banner spoke with three parents with children in Santa Cruz Junior Guards who are concerned, not that Hearn has been attending events as someone with kids in the program, but that he’s been elected to a leadership role within a youth sports-related organization while the case remains active.

The newspaper is not identifying the families, as they’ve all shared fears of retaliation for themselves or their children. They described the Santa Cruz lifeguarding system as an “old boys”-style network where, if one falls out of line, they risk securing future employment opportunities for their children.

“He’s in a position of power on a volunteer board,” said one parent. “There are many parents that haven’t been happy.”

This person explained Hearn has been a frequent presence at local junior guards and swimming events.

“He’ll try to chat up the kids—and parents,” the source said. “He’s just always there, around.”

Another said she recently saw Hearn selling items in support of the youth program.

“He’s always there to volunteer,” she said. “I couldn’t understand why he knew who my kid was. And I had this inherent creepy feeling.”

Her daughter confirmed that, one time, when she was still 13, while she was hanging out in swimwear at the beach with friends, Hearn approached and showered her with attention he didn’t give to the boys—even though they had been junior guards just as long.

The Press Banner reached out to Hearn with questions through his lawyer, Aug. 12, for comments on the settlement, as well as about accusations he’s continued to act inappropriately towards teen girls.

“Out of the country on vacay,” replied Whitney Davis, his counsel, in an email the following morning.

A few hours later, Davis replied directly to the questions himself.

“I settled the case. It was truly a nuisance and other cases deserved more attention and a place in line,” he said. “Ned did not pay, I did.”

Hearn did not have to admit guilt as part of the deal, he emphasized.

“Apologize for what?” he said. “Never.”

Davis noted he was “very surprised” Dixon Unified agreed to pay even a cent to Chowning.

“The police twice rejected the unsubstantiated weed-fueled claims over several decades,” he said. “The case against Ned was dismissed with prejudice.”

The Press Banner asked Chowning, through her lawyers, to comment on the settlement—and Davis’s accusation the case emerged from drug use by Chowning.

“We have no comment,” wrote Los Angeles-based Paul Mones.

Another Santa Cruz Junior Guards parent told the newspaper that, while she’d never seen Hearn behaving badly around her children, she was still disappointed in the way local leaders had handled the issue.

“I just feel like, for what he’s accused of, he should just sort of forfeit the right to be part of a kids program,” she said. “I’m just shocked that people who are higher-up in these programs are willing to just overlook the court case and allegations.”

Hearn previously raised concerns among Bay View Elementary families, when parents discovered he was volunteering at the Santa Cruz school, last year.

The Dolphins vs. Dixon Unified

The bickering between the Dolphins and Dixon Unified has added an interesting dynamic to the Chowning vs. Hearn case.

One might expect defendants to close ranks to fend off sex abuse allegations.

And at first, that seemed to be what was happening, with DUSD lawyers trying to convince the court AB 218 was unconstitutional.

But another case confirmed its validity, and, over time, more and more details about Hearn’s case have become public, as each party tries to pin the blame on the other.

Both the Dolphins and DUSD seem quite eager to throw Hearn under the bus in hopes of escaping responsibility for the financial payout.

Hearn’s deposition wasn’t particularly helpful, as he pleaded the Fifth to nearly every question.

DUSD says it went through three different document request cycles with the Dolphins.

And, as of a June 16 filing, it had established this timeline:

Plaintiff said she met Hearn when she was in eighth grade.

Jessica Adair, the lawyer who signed that document, describes a scene where Hearn brings a group of high school swimmers to the City’s pool, where he was coaching for the Dolphins.

“Hearn introduced Plaintiff to the swimmers and said something to the effect of, ‘This girl is a great swimmer. She’s going to be joining you guys on the high school team pretty soon. You better watch out for her!””

Evidence suggests the inappropriate touching started in Chowning’s freshman year, the filing argues.

“Did you ever see him put his hand on her shoulder or her back or pat her on the bottom or anything like that?” Chowning’s friend Erin Maillo was asked.

“He was a swim coach, you know,” she replied. “So, I think that when he was coaching at the pool, he would touch the swimmers, like put his hand on their shoulder or put his hand on their back, but I don’t think that specifically was only towards Melissa.”

Chowning says, when others weren’t looking, he’d touch her buttocks.

Then, when she was a sophomore, Hearn became her substitute biology teacher.

She said he’d tell inappropriate jokes, but she couldn’t provide specifics.

In August 1997 (“after a Dolphins swim meet” Adair specifies in bold), Hearn invited Plaintiff to his home to “talk about college” and “maybe give her a massage after the race.”

They chatted for a bit, until Hearn suggested she go into his bedroom for a massage, according to the document.

“Hearn began having sexual intercourse with her,” it reads, adding, “The following day, at Dolphins practice, (‘at Dolphins practice’ is bolded in DUSD’s submission) Hearn apologized and said he ‘had feelings for her.’”

Chowning estimated they had intercourse about 10-12 times, by DUSD’s count, which stated she ended the sexual relationship with Hearn in February 1998.

“He was getting more and more comfortable saying things or touching me at practice, you know, where it was like more risky in terms of somebody seeing,” she testified.

In 2007, while at a restaurant in Texas, Chowning told her mom, Leslie Delozier, about the alleged abuse.

Her mom reported it to the Dixon police “who did not do anything further about the allegations,” DUSD’s lawyer wrote. “Delozier testified that Hearn ‘acknowledged and apologized’ to her.”

The case ultimately moved forward when Chowning shared details about her ’90s-era relationship with Hearn with SLVUSD officials.

DUSD is not happy that the Dolphins organization has only offered to chip in $25,000 toward the settlement, which it called “a nuisance value contribution.”

Though there are some differences, the Dolphins’ timeline is pretty close to DUSD’s (and neither is arguing abuse didn’t occur).

The Dolphins’ counsel says Chowning stated she met Hearn when she was 13.

“He would exhibit inappropriate behaviors towards the female swimmers in general and would often make comments about their appearances,” reads its submission, which describes a growing bond between Chowning and Hearn at that time. “In her junior year of high school, he began asking her to come over to his home where he would furnish alcohol and food. He did this approximately 10 times. She went on to testify that they usually engaged in sexual intercourse while in Mr. Hearn’s car or at his house and estimated that she went over to Mr. Hearn’s house around 15 times in total. She engaged in intercourse with him 5-8 times in his car, and also orally copulated him 4-6 times both in his car and his home…The entire course of the sexual relationship was approximately 4-5 months.”

The Dolphins’ team added, “Ms. Chowning testified that Mr. Hearn NEVER touched or assaulted her while she was with the Dolphins or during any meets hosted by the Dixon Dolphins.”

Per the document signed by lawyer David Ruezga, Hearn would only act improperly toward Chowning at Dixon High School meets or practices.

The Dolphins’ current president, Megan Villasenor, was a swimmer on the city and school teams during the period covered by the case.

“She did not witness any abuse and is skeptical that any abuse occurred during the period that Plaintiff was under the care and supervision of the Dixon Dolphins,” the lawyer wrote.

The document states a clinical psychologist determined Chowning’s mental health issues (though partially a result of being held up at gunpoint at a bank, distress due to living in Texas and the effects of how she was raised, among other things) “have been exacerbated by the trauma she endured as a result of Defendant Hearn’s sexual abuse.”

Race Director Hearn

On Saturday, the 50th Annual Roughwater 1 Mile Swim event took place as part of the 2025 Santa Cruz Open Water Weekend, which is hosted by the Santa Cruz Surf Life Saving Association, Santa Cruz Masters Swimming and the City of Santa Cruz.

It’s a contest held in the ocean for swimmers as young as 9 that starts on one side of the Santa Cruz pier and ends on the other, by the Dream Inn. Hearn is listed as the race director.

That day, Adrienne McConnell, the SCJG Boosters volunteer president, sent the newspaper an email in which she explained the tough spot the organization is in when it comes to Hearn.

“Being a Booster does not afford anyone additional access to children or place any Booster in an official capacity on the beach. Any member who is on our voting Board is not in a leadership position, nor do we have any oversight of any children’s activities while they are at the beach under the guidance of City employees,” she wrote. “Ned was not and has not been convicted of a crime. Ned is allowed to volunteer with our program. Boosters has no time or ability to understand the significance of Ned’s legal issues or any resolution/settlement/case status to date, and frankly, it is not my or anyone on the board’s business to discuss. To that end, I have indeed said I would not discuss the issue, because it is none of our group’s business.”

She also denied that her employment with SLVUSD had colored her approach to the issue.

“Yes, Ned was previously employed by the school district,” she said. “We had never worked together, as he worked at a different campus site.”

McConnell said she contacted the City of Santa Cruz and SLVUSD Superintendent Christopher Schiermeyer before responding.

“While your tone suggests some kind of salacious conspiracy to hide Ned Hearn’s involvement from the public, the truth is much less exciting,” she said. “I’m confident that our group operates with the best of intentions to help the lifeguard community.”

On Tuesday at 3:30pm, the newspaper called Hearn to see if he’d like to share what things have been like from his perspective.

“Hello, this is Ned,” said the chipper voice on the other end of the line.

When this reporter identified himself and asked if he’d like to speak on the settlement, the call suddenly disconnected.