The Colton Joint Unified School District has begun the process of hiring a new athletic director at Grand Terrace High School while Tiffany Gordon, the school’s former AD, remains on leave in the wake of allegations that she sexually abused 10 minor-aged Colton High School football players in the early 2000s.
The school district formally posted the Grand Terrace AD position Friday and set a June 9 deadline for applications to be submitted.
The posting came seven months after the Southern California News Group first reported allegations by six former Colton players that Gordon, then an athletic trainer at the school and the daughter of revered Colton head coach Harold Strauss, sexually assaulted, abused and molested them during their high school careers while they were minors.
A total of 10 former Colton players allege in interviews with SCNG and in lawsuits filed against Gordon and the CJUSD in San Bernardino Superior Court last year, that between 2000 and 2007, Gordon had sexual intercourse with, performed oral sex on and molested players who were between the ages of 14 and 17 with the knowledge of Strauss and other Yellowjackets coaches.
Gordon had sex with the players in the school’s locker room, training room, bathrooms, weight room and football trailer as well as at her parents’ house during weekly meetings between the coaches and top players, according to interviews and court documents. One player alleged in an interview and the lawsuit that Gordon had sex with him at least 50 times during his senior year at Colton High, when he was 17.
Gordon continues to be employed by the school district but remains on leave, a CJUSD spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. She has been on leave since at least October. The district has declined to say whether Gordon is being paid while on leave.
The CJUSD has hired a Sacramento law firm to conduct an investigation into the allegations against Gordon. It is the same law firm Mater Dei hired in 2021 to investigate allegations of bullying and other misconduct within the school’s football and athletic programs.
Gordon did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Harold Strauss died in December 2019 at the age of 60.
The school district reported the allegations against Gordon to the Colton Police Department last year as soon as they became aware of them, the spokesperson said. Gordon has been interviewed by the Colton Police Department, according to Paul Wallin, Gordon’s criminal defense attorney, and previously confirmed to SCNG.
The Colton police did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
