A lawsuit alleges that Abington School District failed to prevent the sexual assault of a 15-year-old student in a stairwell
The family is “extremely disappointed and frankly shocked” at how the school handled the male student’s persistent inappropriate behavior, said the plaintiff's lawyer.
A federal lawsuit filed Thursday alleges the Abington School District fostered an environment that allowed a student to undergo years of harassment that led to her rape on school grounds when she was 15.
Though school officials were aware she had been repeatedly harassed and stalked primarily by a specific male student while attending both Abington Junior and Senior High Schools, the district turned a “blind eye” to a “pervasive culture of inappropriate sexual behavior that eventually culminated in sexual assault and rape,” according to the complaint filed by Center City firm Ross Feller Casey.
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An Abington School District spokesperson declined to comment Thursday, citing active litigation.
The student, referred to as Jane Doe in the suit, endured years of bullying starting in the 2015-16 school year, when she was in the 7th grade, that included harassment based on her sex, race, disability, and sexual orientation. She was also subjected to homophobic slurs.
At this time, the assailant, referred to as “student assailant one” in the suit, began physically assaulting her on a “routine basis,” including an incident where he groped her. The incident was then reported to the junior high school’s assistant principal.
The family is “extremely disappointed and frankly shocked” at how the school handled the male student’s behavior, said attorney Joel Feller, who is representing the student.
The complaint, which describes “a pattern of recurring sexual harassment” witnessed by a teacher and other students that the district “had a duty to recognize and remediate,” also alleges that a second male student inappropriately touched her and sent her explicit messages.
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“The family doesn’t want this to happen to any other student,” Feller said. “They are taking the steps to file this lawsuit to make changes and to really assure that what happened to their lovely daughter never happens to anyone again. The family is devastated about what their daughter had to endure, and what she’s going to endure for the rest of her life.”
Further incidents, including one that was captured on camera where she was punched in the stomach for refusing advances by “student assailant one,” are also detailed in the lawsuit. The student’s parents were assured during the 2016-17 school year that measures would be taken, but in November 2018, that student sexually assaulted her in a stairwell at the high school, the suit says.
“Abington really disregarded their obligation to all students, you could say, but in this particular case, they were aware of problems, and they made promises to the family to protect her and they disregarded those promises and their obligation,” Feller said. “It should never have happened.”
The plaintiff, who has developed post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety as a result of the abuse, according to the lawsuit, is seeking damages in the form of monetary compensation.