A local school district and diocese are facing lawsuits after a 14-year-old girl was repeatedly raped by her middle school teacher and CCD instructor.

The leaders of the Fall River Diocese church allegedly knew that the girl’s teacher was sexually assaulting her, but “they took no action to protect her from him,” according to one of the suits in Plymouth Superior Court.

Meanwhile, the Freetown Lakeville Middle School’s teachers and administrators allegedly knew — or should have known — that Gilbert Hernandez had a history of student sexual assaults, but “took no action to protect students from him,” reads the other lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court.

These suits come after Hernandez was sentenced last year to 30-40 years in Massachusetts state prison for sexually assaulting the girl at the church and school.

The assaults took place in 2018, when Hernandez was a 53-year-old married man of two young children.

He was a substitute teacher and a faculty advisor for the Art Club at Freetown Lakeville Middle School, while he was also a CCD teacher at St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown. In both places, Hernandez was the 14-year-old girl’s teacher.

The victim was “groomed, then repeatedly sexually harassed, assaulted and raped” by Hernandez, according to the lawsuit.

“The pastor and the teachers of the parish religious education program knew because they observed that Hernandez was constantly engaged in inappropriate, sexualized conduct with the plaintiff, but they took no action to protect her from him, and further, they failed to file any reports,” reads the lawsuit against the church.

When there were special masses at the parish, Hernandez reportedly would have the girl sit in a pew away from other people. The church leaders allegedly saw this happen, but never questioned why Hernandez was always alone with the girl.

“Defendant Hernandez would sexually assault (the girl) in the pew, in church, during those masses,” the church lawsuit reads.

The church’s leaders and CCD teachers “took no action to stop Hernandez from future sexual assaults, batteries and harassment, after becoming aware of defendant Hernandez’s criminal conduct,” the lawsuit states.

A spokesperson for the Fall River Diocese declined to comment on Monday.

According to the school suit, Hernandez sexually harassed, assaulted and raped the girl on multiple occasions — including some assaults that occurred in the middle school’s classrooms.

He reportedly singled her out for “special attention, praise and constant compliments,” and would give her gifts.

“Defendant Hernandez’s special focus, inappropriate attention, and persistent boundary violations were open, obvious, and readily observed by students and teachers,” the lawsuit reads.

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One student reportedly told teachers that she was concerned Hernandez was getting too close to the girl. Teachers apparently asked Hernandez about it, but no further investigation or action was taken — and Hernandez continued to sexually assault the girl.

“No Free-Lake employees, who were mandated reporters, made any report of this information to the Department of Children and Families or the Lakeville Police Department, despite the requirement to do so under (state law),” the lawsuit reads.

“By these failures to perform this duty, defendant Free-Lake intentionally inflicted emotional distress upon (the victim), who then knew defendant Hernandez would suffer no consequences for his acts, and that she was not going to be safe from future assaults by defendant Hernandez,” the lawsuit states. “(Her) life changed completely after this failure. She wanted to attend college, and had the ability to do so, but Hernandez’s assaults have made being in a learning environment with teachers impossible.”

It took years before she was able to tell anyone what Hernandez had done to her.

In 2021, Hernandez was indicted in both Barnstable and Plymouth courts for sexually assaulting the girl. He was tried in Bristol County, where the jury found him guilty of all charges on 11 indictments, and he was sentenced to 30-40 years in prison.

The Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District did not immediately respond to comment on Monday.