Parents say an elite Calabasas prep school ignored warnings that a teacher was secretly photographing young girls because administrators dismissed him as gay.
The $54,000-a-year Viewpoint School failed to act for more than a year after students and parents reported Travis Shojinaga, 39, for allegedly taking upskirt photos with his iPhone, according to a new lawsuit. The documents claim a student and another girl first raised alarms in December 2024, telling adults the educator had been sitting with them at lunch, placing his telephone beneath the table, and making them uncomfortable.
When one parent brought the complaint to Claudia Antoine, then head of lower school, she allegedly expressed surprise he would be interested in girls and commented, “he bats for the other team,” the suit reads. Viewpoint characterized the child’s concern as a possible “misunderstanding” and made no meaningful attempt to determine whether the allegation was true, including inspecting Shojinaga’s phone, the papers argue.
The lawsuit claims other incidents were reported during the more than a year between the initial complaint and Shojinaga’s arrest. In one instance, a child standing on a chair to reach supplies said Shojinaga came immediately behind her with his telephone out, causing her to believe he might be photographing her. The child did not promptly complain again, later explaining she second guessed herself after the first complaint went nowhere, according to the documents.
Students eventually worked out a hand signal to warn each other when the teacher approached, and they went to the girls bathroom to avoid him, the suit says.
Shojinaga was arrested in February 2026, more than a year after the first reports, and his alleged behavior was made public in a complaint filed by DA Nathan Hochman. Prosecutors claim he took secret videos up the shirts of the 4th and 5th grade female students that he teaches. The accused pedophile took recordings of the 10- and 11-year-old girls by bending down and pretending to pick up trash or tie his shoe, court filings show.
After his arrest, he told authorities he had an “addiction” and had taken 50 to 60 recordings, according to court filings.
“He said taking and viewing these photos made his ‘heart race,'” the documents said.
The unnamed parties, who are protecting the identity of their children, are seeking economic damages from Viewpoint including payments for medical and psychological expenses.
Shojinaga has been charged with one felony count of possession of child abuse material and four misdemeanor counts of child molestation. He is currently free on $1 million bail, and a protective order granted by the court says he must stay away from his alleged victims and Viewpoint.
Antoine retired after 35 years in 2025, according to the school’s Facebook page.
The lawsuit’s central claim—that a child’s report of predatory behavior was waved away with a remark about sexual orientation—has drawn fresh scrutiny to how private schools handle misconduct allegations. The documents paint a pattern of children forced to protect themselves through whispered warnings and bathroom hideouts while adults failed to intervene.
Shojinaga’s next court date is November 11.