A victim who was 17 years old when she was allegedly sexually assaulted for six consecutive hours by a military recruiter has sued the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy.
The Federal Tort Claims Act administrative complaint filed Wednesday on behalf of Jane Doe claims that the Marines failed to properly hire and supervise the alleged abuser, active-duty Marine Sgt. Jorge Lara-Pedroza, and failed to properly implement policies and procedures to prevent recruiters from preying on potential recruits.
Lara-Pedroza was arrested on Oct. 29, 2024, one day after the purported incident at a Marines recruiting center in Sunnyvale, Calif. He was charged at the time with several crimes, including “oral copulation, penetration with a foreign object, and arranging to meet with a minor with the intent to engage in sexual conduct.”
Doe is represented by the law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, including Christine Dunn, the managing partner of the Washington D.C. Office and co-chair of the firm’s Sexual Violence, Title IX, and Victims’ Rights Practice Group.
U.S Marine Corps Sgt. Jack Wilke, a primary marksmanship instructor with Range Company, Weapons and Field Training Battalion, gives instruction to recruits with Kilo Company 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, during Grass Week on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S. C., Oct. 20, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pvt. Eddie Montepeque)
Associate attorney Jillian Seymour is also involved in the case. She told Military.com on Wednesday that Doe came forward with this legal complaint for multiple reasons.
“Jane Doe has decided to come forward at this time from a practical perspective because the statute of limitations for her to file her administrative complaint expires in a matter of days, so obviously we wanted to make sure to get this timely filed,” Seymour said. “But from a broader perspective, she wants to hold the Marines accountable.
“This was a preventable act of sexual violence that went on for hours on military property, and there’s absolutely no reason that we should be seeing yet another case of sexual misconduct by Marine recruiters. … This complaint is really serving as a wake-up call to the Marines that this misconduct really needs to stop, and they need to be taking action to stop it.”
Military.com reached out to the Marine Corps and Navy for comment.
How Jane Doe and Lara-Pedroza Were Left Alone
The redacted legal complaint obtained by Military.com claims that Doe, a senior at the time, approached Lara-Pedroza in the fall of 2024 at a Marines recruiting event at her high school and provided contact information.
“Shortly thereafter, he called Doe and arranged a meeting to meet at a recruiting center and discuss future options within the Marine Corps.
That occurred Oct. 28, when Doe was led to his office described as “a large room that included a couch and desk, a closet, and a smaller, cordoned-off room with a computer for recruitment-related tests.”
U.S. Marine Corps 1st. Lt. Paul Andras, a series commander with Alpha Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, presents the Crucible’s five-paragraph order along with a terrain model on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Oct. 14, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jordy Morales)
There was only one other employee present, according to the complaint, and Doe recalled noticing that no security cameras appeared visible in either Lara-Pedroza’s office or the recruiting center at-large.
“There’s no reason that a military recruiter should be speaking with a child in his office with the doors close,” Seymour said. “In fact, the Department of Defense had issued regulations a few years ago…[that] expressly prohibits these types of one-on-one interactions between recruiters and potential recruits.”
Recruiting Discussion Quickly Turned Sexual
Things quickly accelerated, according to Doe.
Lara-Pedroza purportedly shut the blinds covering his office windows and locked his office door prior to asking Doe whether he could change into his Marines uniform that he brought on a hanger.
“I said yes because I assumed he would change in his closet, but recruiter Lara-Pedroza proceeded to take off his clothes in front of me,” Doe says in the complaint. “Once recruiter Lara-Pedroza got to his pants, he walked into the cordoned-off room to finish changing.”
U.S. Marine Corps drill instructors with Echo Company, 2nd Recruit training Battalion, instruct recruits during the Day Movement Course during Basic Warrior Training (BWT) on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Oct. 15, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Erin Porras)
When Lara-Pedroza returned, he told Doe about options in the service. While reading provided material, Lara-Pedroza allegedly giggled and seemed nervous about asking a question.
“You’re going to get me in trouble if you keep looking at me that way,” he allegedly said prior to asking if he could kiss her.
“Without waiting for my reply, he started kissing me,” Doe described. “He then picked me up and put me on the couch in his office, where he began to fondle me. Next, recruiter Lara-Pedroza took me into his office closet and removed his pants. He demanded I give him oral sex and forced my head onto his groin area.”
Doe was wearing Invisalign at the time, which included a metal attachment part on the roof of the mouth.
“Because of how violently recruiter Lara-Pedroza pushed my head onto his groin, the metal part in my mouth cut his penis, causing blood to spurt everywhere,” Doe said, prompting him to become “angry” and ordering her to clean up the blood off the floor with paper towels.
But according to the complaint, that discussion was brief. Doe claims that Lara-Pedroza resumed his sexual assault, performing oral sex on Doe before taking Doe back to a couch in his office “where he inserted his fingers into nearly every part of my body.”
Due to the cut on his penis, he did not penetrate Doe’s vagina.
After roughly six hours, Doe said her parents would likely be worried and was able to leave the building. Lara-Pedroza is claimed to have accompanied Doe to her vehicle, telling her to not tell anyone what happened due to ruining both their lives.
Then, he allegedly told Doe to meet him at a recruiting event in Las Vegas where he could get her so intoxicated that Doe would “let [him] do anything to me.”
The Day After
The next day, Doe reported the incident to their principal—who immediately took Doe to the Sunnyvale Department of Safety, where police took a statement and pictures of the bruises on Doe’s body.
Police then had Doe call Lara-Pedroza and tell him that Doe wanted to see him again at the recruiting center. When he showed up, he was arrested and charged with the aforementioned crimes.
The legal consequences befuddled Doe, however. After spending the rest of 2024 and all of 2025 in jail waiting for trial, the Marines discharged Lara-Pedroza for what was described as relatively less serious misconduct that allegedly occurred prior to his assault of Doe.
That, in turn, allowed for the avoidance of an intensive court martial for sexual assault. He ultimately accepted a plea deal from the San Jose County District Attorney, which contained no prison sentence and required him to register as a sex offender on California’s sex offender registry.
Seymour told Military.com that as of Oct. 21, 2026, Lara-Pedroza is still not publicly listed on the registry.
The Impact of the Assault Has Been ‘Severe’ and ‘Lasting’
Doe says in the complaint that the Marines knew that Lara-Pedroza had faced prior allegations of sexual violence when it allowed him to recruit students from her high school.
That allegedly included being the subject of complaints involving sexual violence before his arrest. Lara-Pedroza is stated to have “moved frequently from assignment to assignment, a pattern often consistent with misconduct in prior roles.”
U.S. Marine Corps recruits with Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion make movement from the pits during a table one course of fire at Edson Range, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Oct. 6, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Rihanna Bryant)
“Typically, what we see when these kinds of cases get publicized is that people come out of the woodwork and they start talking about similar experiences,” Seymour said. “So, that’s what happened here, and we’re hoping that with the filing of this complaint, we will continue to learn more information about this perpetrator’s prior history of sexual misconduct.”
According to Seymour, a long-term career in the United States military was definitely being considered by Doe. That was, however, before the sexual assault that changed her life.
“She was actively considering a military career, and the Marines was just one potential option for her,” Seymour said. “Now, we’re talking about someone who is severely traumatized and is obviously triggered by military environments now. So, that career in the military is absolutely put into question.”
For Doe, keeping her life together has been anything but easy. She went from an honor and AP student who received athletic offers from colleges, to someone not wanting to be alone in a room with a man.
“The assault I suffered at the Sunnyvale recruiting center has caused me severe and lasting psychological, emotional, social, and financial harm,” Doe says in the complaint. “I am now in therapy because of recruiter Lara-Pedroza’s assault.”
Since the complaint is a tort claim, the Marine Corps and Navy are afforded six months from the date of the filing to investigate. After that, Doe can file a lawsuit against the parties in federal court.
