Editor’s note: This story contains details of sexual abuse involving children that some readers may find disturbing.

Teachers at UCLA’s Early Care and Education centers told administrators in 2017 that they were struggling to meet teacher-student ratios and did not have enough supervision in their classrooms.

Seven years later, their colleague of nearly 25 years was arrested for sexually abusing the children under his care.

Twenty-five teachers from various ECE locations said they did not have enough staff to supervise their classrooms, according to a 2017 internal task force report obtained by the Daily Bruin. One teacher alleged in the report that their classroom did not have enough caretakers to meet legal supervision requirements at least 50% of the time due to staffing fluctuations.

“The major problem is the lack of staff,” one teacher said in the report. “If there were more staff the emphasis could move away from a constant concern with being in ratio. Everything else follows from that … We need more eyes in the classroom.”

Christoper Rodriguez, who taught at two ECE centers between 1999 and 2024, was convicted of sexual battery and willful cruelty to a child in April 2025. Multiple children testified during his initial trial that he had abused them in his classroom and school bathrooms, where sheets of butcher paper and plexiglass could block the view of other staff members.

No concerns about sexual abuse were listed in the 2017 task force report, which was commissioned by the office of then-executive vice chancellor and provost Scott Waugh. However, 80% of parents sourced at the University Village center – where Rodriguez worked at the time the report was written – and Fernald Center said they had trouble communicating with ECE administration about the program.

One parent and UCLA faculty member whose child was in Rodriguez’s class when he worked at the Krieger Center said they pulled their child out of ECE because of what they saw as a lack of classroom management over a year before his arrest. Their child had experienced night terrors and behavioral issues throughout their time at Krieger, they added.

“It seemed like there was just something seriously wrong, and we couldn’t quite put our finger on it,” said the parent, who asked to remain anonymous to protect their child’s identity. “My child had really one of the worst years. We didn’t know what was going on.”

The parent added that they had heard rumors about issues at ECE before their child attended, and now believe that there was oversight from the program’s leaders.

A report written by consultants as part of a search for new ECE leadership in 2018 also said the program had opened itself up to potential legal liabilities because of a lack of unified leadership and communication.

A spokesperson for UCLA ECE said in an emailed statement that they are committed to providing a safe environment for their community, but do not comment on pending legal matters. The Bruin asked how ECE has updated their communication methods since both reports were written and did not include any questions about pending lawsuits.

Victims and their families filed multiple civil suits in 2025 alleging the UC did not do enough to protect students in Rodriguez’s class.

Rodriguez filed to appeal his convictions last year and was released on bond after initially being sentenced to seven years in jail in June. The Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a bench warrant for him Feb. 9 after he failed to appear in court.

Multiple parents from Rodriguez’s final classes told the Bruin last month that they had not received any communication from UCLA about the situation in over a year, even after Rodriguez’s failure to appear.

An email sent out to ECE families on March 11 – one day after the article which included those claims was published – said that UCPD would continue to patrol Krieger’s campus. The email, from ECE executive director Tashon McKeithan, said that the school does not receive updates on the criminal case and encouraged families to search the court system for information directly.

The parent and faculty member said they are still trying to piece together what happened in the classroom, adding that they had told their child that Rodriguez was going to jail and felt like they had been failed by the system.

They also said the childcare UCLA had offered their family was a major factor in their original decision to work at the university. ECE centers provide care to infants and young children from UCLA-affiliated families, including the children of staff members, faculty and university students.

“We, as faculty, come to UCLA. … We’re expected to give 110%, we do so,” they said. “We’re parents, we’re faculty, and what has the institution done to keep our children safe?”

Contributing reports by Felicia Keller, Daily Bruin senior staff.