UC Davis fires professor accused of sexually assaulting high school student in 2010
The University of California, Davis on Thursday announced that it has fired a chemistry professor who is accused of sexually assaulting a high school student 13 years ago.
The University of California Board of Regents on Thursday “dismissed” Ting Guo from the UC Davis faculty, according to a news release. Guo had been on administrative leave for about two years before a news article published last week revealed the allegations against the professor.
The UC Board of Regents made its decision at the request of UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and on the recommendation of UC President Michael Drake.
“We are grateful that the Regents agreed with our recommendation to terminate the employment of Dr. Guo effectively immediately,” May said in the news release. “Sexual misconduct is not tolerated at UC Davis. We encourage people to report abuse and seek support.”
The allegations against Guo were first reported publicly last week by the San Francisco Chronicle. The day following the article’s publication, UC Davis officials confirmed that Guo had been on leave since early 2021 after learning of allegations that he sexually assaulted a high school student multiple times in 2010.
While on leave, Guo was instructed not to contact the accuser or any UC Davis student or employee, or go to the campus without permission.
Guo joined the UC Davis faculty in 1999. An unidentified “Jane Doe” accuser, according to court documents, said she met Guo when she was 18 and began shadowing him in January 2010 as part of an assignment for her AP chemistry class.
The professor was accused in a late 2020 civil lawsuit of sexually assaulting the high school student who had worked in his laboratory, according to a UC Davis news release issued last week.
The 2020 lawsuit, which was filed in Yolo Superior Court against Guo and UC Davis and ultimately dismissed by a judge due to the statute of limitations expiring, contained allegations related to a 2018 complaint to police. The accuser indicated she was inspired to make the police report following the #MeToo movement that began in 2017, according to the Chronicle’s reporting.
UC Davis Title IX Office investigation
The UC Davis Title IX Office learned in January 2021 of the allegations in the filed civil lawsuit and launched its own investigation. UC Davis officials last week said they could “confirm that the internal processes remain ongoing,” but they couldn’t discuss the specific details of the process any further.
On Thursday, UC Davis officials announced that the Title IX Office investigation “found that Guo had sexually assaulted a high school student who had worked in his laboratory.” The disciplinary process concluded with a recommendation that Guo be fired.
Guo participated as a mentor in a summer program for high school students until 2019. The program was not held in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The student who accused Guo of sexual assault was not a participant in that summer program and was ever enrolled as a student at UC Davis.
UC Davis has initiated an external review of all UC Davis programs involving youths. The review will examine protections for minors in all youth programs in university facilities from 2010 to the present, along with protocols and practices governing communication and information-sharing between the UC Davis Police Department and the UC Davis Title IX Office.
The external review also will determine whether anyone in a leadership position in the chemistry department knew or should have known about sexual misconduct concerns related to Guo from 2010 through 2021. UC Davis officials also want to know whether any concerns about Guo were appropriately reported and whether appropriate action was taken.
This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 5:50 PM.
