Pantea knew she had to get her children out of one the most prestigious private schools in Southern California after having a conversation with her daughter that 'no mother should ever have' to endure.

The high powered attorney and her husband Max, an executive at University of Southern California (USC), chose the $50,000-a-year Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, known for attracting the children of celebrities like the Kardashians, LeBron James and Kevin Hart, believing it would give their children the best possible start in life.

But when their seven-year-old daughter tearfully told them about a 'kissing club' started by other students and said she felt pressured to join, everything changed.

'I just remember being in a vacuum, and listening to this, my daughter crying hysterically and apologizing and just asking me to forgive her,' Pantea, who asked that her surname be withheld to protect her daughter's privacy, told the Daily Mail.

'It's a conversation that no mother should ever have with her child.'

Pantea first learned of the alleged 'club' after the 2023-24 academic year, when another parent told her about videos that allegedly showed several female students -aged just seven and eight - gathering in a school bathroom.

Two of the eight-year-old girls allegedly pressured younger students, including her daughter, into joining.

When Pantea asked her daughter about it directly, the child tearfully told how she was coerced into touching and kissing older students' private parts. 

'She said that they would touch each other's breasts, and I don't even know if seven-year-olds had breasts, but she said they would touch each other's breasts and 'link' them,' a visibly distressed Pantea said.

'That was just jarring to me. And then she started telling me about what they did to their private parts and then it's just spiraled from there.'

Pantea and Max raised concerns about the inappropriate behavior with the school, but claimed that staff were dismissive.

According to a lawsuit filed in December, no one at Sierra Canyon contacted police until their daughter's pediatrician stepped in to report the alleged abuse.

The parents also claimed that one of the alleged perpetrators recorded the abuse on a cell phone, and that a teacher sent the footage to herself in order to show administrators, according to the complaint.

Their attorney, former federal prosecutor Samuel Dordulian, said that act alone was illegal and could be seen as distributing child pornography.

Both the school and police launched investigations. Officers ultimately concluded that no crime had been committed due to a California law which limits criminal proceedings involving very young children.

Dordulian claimed the school used that legal technicality as cover.

'Legally and criminally, there was nothing they could do because you need to prove the mental intent to commit these crimes, and kids at that age cannot form that. So, for the cops, it's not a criminal matter,' Dordulian said.

He added: 'But that doesn't mean the school shouldn't have taken some action because they are responsible to protect students.' 

Pantea said the only remedy the school offered was moving her daughter to a different homeroom the following year to avoid 'run-ins' with the alleged perpetrators.

'I said something along the lines of, "What about the other girls who did this?" And the dean said, "If you are suggesting that we expel them, that is absolutely not happening",' Pantea claimed.

Sierra Canyon did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment about Pantea's alleged exchange with the dean.

The school did require all students involved to undergo therapy, but Pantea said the older girls faced no further consequences.

For Pantea and Max, that was the breaking point. They pulled their daughter and five-year-old son out of Sierra Canyon.

The family is now suing the school for negligence, emotional distress, false advertising and fraud, among other claims.

Central to the fraud allegation is the school's own marketing, which promises students will 'develop a strong moral base' and enjoy 'close, meaningful student-faculty relationships.'

The lawsuit also alleges the school failed to properly train staff to identify sexually inappropriate behavior or take adequate steps to protect students.

In response, Sierra Canyon filed a challenge to the complaint and argued it did not establish sufficient facts to support the claims against it.

However, the suit recently cleared a significant legal hurdle and will now proceed to a jury trial.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the school's attorneys for comment.

Sierra Canyon markets itself as a place 'where ingenious teachers, intrepid students, and forward-thinking leaders collaborate to shape your child's future.' 

Tuition runs from $29,150 for pre-kindergarten to $48,500 for grades 7 through 12. 

Famous alumni include Kendall and Kylie Jenner, LeBron James's sons Bronny and Bryce, Willow Smith, and Ireland Baldwin.

For Pantea and Max, the ordeal has left wounds that go far beyond their daughter's trauma.

'We had to leave the school that we'd been part of since our daughter was four. We've had to leave all the friends we had made, the community we had built,' Pantea said.

'I want to say that we've started new - but that wouldn't be true. Based on everything that's happened, we are traumatized. We don't want to make new friends. We don't want to build a new community. We're still not okay.'

Her daughter remains in therapy. 'She's had to change schools, find new friends, while trying to understand the gravity of what happened to her,' Pantea said. 'I'm not sure she is fully aware of everything that's happened.'