Kamehameha Schools and a former coach who later became a Honolulu county official have settled a lawsuit filed by a former student who says the coach groomed her into a sexual relationship in the 1980s, according to court records filed on Monday. 

The lawsuit, filed in 2020 by the former student, alleges that Guy Kaulukukui used to remove the girl from racquetball-gym class for private “one on one lessons” during which he would sexually assault her. He was 24. She was 15. 

Later, when she was a junior at Molokai High School, Kaulukukui allegedly sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions and gave her gifts. The lawsuit also accuses him of giving the girl alcohol and taking explicit photos of her. 

“From 1985 to 1987, Kaulukukui plied Plaintiff with numerous gifts, to include flowers, a stuffed animal, clothes, shoes, photographs, a kite, and lingerie, in an effort to silence her while grooming, manipulating, sexually exploiting, and sexually assaulting her,” the plaintiff’s trial brief states. 

In court records, Kaulukui admitted to giving the girl unspecified gifts but disputed the other allegations. 

“Kaulukukui respectfully denies Plaintiff’s account of a sexual relationship between them,” his pre-trial statement said.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiff also named the school system and its trustees. She alleged that she reported the abuse to teachers, dorm advisers and a coach, verbally and in writing, but the school system “did nothing,” according to the lawsuit. 

Kamehameha Schools denied those claims. The school system also filed a cross-claim against Kaulukukui, arguing that if the plaintiff was harmed, it was Kaulukukui’s fault, not that of the school. 

“If Plaintiff has suffered any loss or injury as alleged in the Complaint, such loss or injury was caused by the actions, omissions, misrepresentations and/or other fault of Kaulukukui, and KS was in no way at fault or, at minimum, its fault was lesser than that of Kaulukukui,” Kamehameha Schools attorney Kelly LaPorte said in a court filing. 

The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in public court records. The case was previously scheduled for a trial next month. 

All parties to the case declined to comment on the matter on Monday, other than a brief joint statement through their attorneys: Doug Chin for Kaulukukui, LaPorte for Kamehameha Schools and Jon Jacobs for the anonymous plaintiff. 

“We confirm that the matter has been settled,” they said via email. 

The plaintiff filed the case in 2020 ahead of a statutory deadline. At the time of the filing, Kaulukui was the director of enterprise services in then-Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration. 

Kaulukukui’s wife filed for divorce later that year. Their separation was finalized in February 2021, according to court records.