Family plans to file lawsuit after 10-year-old was sexually assaulted at school

PHOENIX — A notice of claim has been filed after a registered sex offender lured and sexually assaulted a 10-year-old last November.

RELATED: Suspect in Phoenix school assault was a former student, had years of probation violations

According to 12News previous reporting and court documents, last November, 25-year-old Abel Gblah slipped in behind a student as they entered the school, claimed to be a doctor, and then convinced a young girl to accompany him into an unused classroom. Once inside, investigators say he sexually assaulted her. 

A notice of claim, which serves as a formal notification to the people or entity you intend to file a lawsuit against, was filed by the victim’s family against:

-Orangewood Elementary School and four named employees

-The Washington Elementary School District School Board

-Several named probation officers

In the notice of claim, the documents state that the parents of the 10-year-old victim will demand a jury trial and request that the defendants be held jointly and individually liable. All defendants are accused of negligence/gross negligence and willful and wanton misconduct. Orangewood Elementary is also being accused of premises liability/negligent security, as well as a Title IX violation.  

The school district confirmed on Nov. 21, 2025, that Gblah is a former student, stating in a news release that Abel Gblah attended the school from 2012 to 2015.

Gblah’s history reveals years of legal trouble spanning both state and federal systems—as well as repeated probation violations that never resulted in prison time.

Court records show his earliest known criminal charge dates back to 2019, when Border Patrol agents in Sierra Vista caught him transporting migrants to Phoenix for money. Federal prosecutors ultimately offered him a plea deal, reducing the charge to misprision of a felony, a lesser offense that does not trigger automatic deportation, according to legal experts. He was sentenced to five years of probation.

Gblah has been on lifetime probation since 2022 and is registered as a Level 2 sex offender.

His criminal history includes a 2021 conviction in which police said he lured a 16-year-old coworker—who was autistic, had cognitive delays and cerebral palsy—to a home and sexually assaulted her. He was indicted on four felonies, including luring a minor for sexual exploitation and child sex trafficking, before pleading guilty to two lesser felony counts of sexual conduct with a minor. 

He was sentenced to lifetime probation.

Court records show a pattern of probation violations beginning as soon as he reported to adult probation in March of 2022.

Between March and October 2022, Gblah allegedly missed meetings, used a smartphone, viewed pornography, lied about being around minors, violated a protection order, and left the state without permission. He was arrested in Miami and served six months in jail.

After his release from jail, records show Gblah missed 22 sex offender treatment classes and was unsuccessfully discharged from the program. 

According to the notice of claim, a recent assessment labeled him as the highest need for intervention. He was arrested earlier this year for theft by means of transportation.  

In September, he was sentenced to two months in jail. Records show he was released from jail just days before assaulting the minor at Orangewood Elementary. 

The compensatory damages the family is seeking are for medical treatment, parents’ emotional distress, educational impact, the child’s emotional distress, loss of future earning capacity, as well as lost wages to attend court and legal-related appointments, psychiatric treatment, long-term trauma therapy, expert reports, and more. 

The family is also seeking punitive damages, as well. In total, the notice of claim demands $40,000,000. 

12News asked the school district to comment on the notice of claim, but they declined.

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