A $54,000-a-year Calabasas prep school knew a teacher was taking photographs up female students skirts but dismissed it because they said he was gay, according to a new lawsuit.
Concerned parents claim they reported Travis Shojinaga, 39, more than a year before he was arrested for child molestation and possession of child pornography at Viewpoint school, the papers say.
A student and another girl believed the educator was taking upskirt photos with his iPhone in December 2024, the documents claim.
“The children reported that Shojinaga had been sitting with them at lunch, placing his telephone beneath the table, and making them uncomfortable, and that the conduct was not limited,” the lawsuit reads.
When a parent took the complaint to Claudia Antoine, the head of lower school, she expressed surprise he would be interested in girls, commenting “he bats for the other team,” the papers say.
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 suit argues.
Shojinaga was arrested over a year later in February 2026 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, the 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.
In the more than a year between the report and Shojinaga’s arrest, other incidents were reported, the papers say.
One involved a child standing on a chair to reach supplies when Shojinaga “came immediately behind her with his telephone out, causing her to believe he might be photographing her,” the documents read.
“The child did not promptly complain again, she later explained she second guessed herself after the first complaint,” according to the lawsuit.
It goes on to say students worked out a hand signal to warn each other when the teacher approached, and that they went to the girls bathroom to avoid him.
The parties, who are unnamed in the lawsuit to protect the identity of their children, are seeking economic damages from Viewpoint including payments for medical and psychological expenses.
Viewpoint was contacted for comment. Antoine retired after 35 years in 2025 according to the school’s Facebook page.
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. A protective order granted by the court says he must stay away from his alleged victims and Viewpoint. His next court date is November 11.
