Lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by teachers and negligence at Fenton High School in a Chicago suburb

CHICAGO (CBS) — A woman complains Fenton Community High School District 100 in Bensenvilleand claimed that she had been sexually abused by a former teacher while she was a student.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, says the woman – referred to in the suit as “Survivor A” – was repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted by the school’s teacher and track coach in 2015 and 2016. The student began competing in track and field in her freshman year, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that the teacher sexually abused Survivor A on school property, including in his office. It also alleges that other teachers and staff at Fenton High School knew that Survivor A was in the teacher’s office with the door closed and the blinds down when the teacher “prepared her and committed a sexually criminal assault” on her.

The teacher was also accused in the lawsuit of sexually abusing Survivor A in his and her car and in a hotel room and of videotaping one of the incidents.

The teacher was transferred from his job as a track and field coach and classroom teacher to a position as a school librarian in December 2016 – and his school-issued cellphone was taken away, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit claims this transfer reflected knowledge of the teacher’s “inappropriate and unlawful communications and conduct toward students.”

That same month, the lawsuit says, Survivor A was summoned to an unscheduled meeting with then-school district superintendent James Ongtengco and a security guard. The superintendent told her he had received a tip that she had been having an inappropriate relationship with the teacher and questioned her about it.

“Fearful, intimidated and alone, Survivor A denied that an inappropriate relationship existed,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also states that Survivor A’s parents were never informed of this meeting.

The lawsuit says the school district knew or should have known what the teacher was doing — both because of her presence in his office with the door closed and the blinds drawn and because of the volume of text messages he sent her on a school-issued phone. The school district was required by law to report the teacher to law enforcement and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, but failed to do so, the lawsuit says.

Instead, the teacher was allowed to abuse several other underage students over the years, the lawyers claimed.

The lawsuit alleges, among other things, violations of Title IX, failure to intervene, violations of the equal protection principle of the 14th Amendment, lack of training, supervision and discipline, negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, and willful and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The claim is for unspecified damages.

“We are honored to file this lawsuit on behalf of our brave client who had the courage to come forward to hold the Fenton Community High School District 100 Board of Education accountable for what the complaint describes as a persistent, widespread and blatant failure to protect her and other students from predatory behavior,” attorney Patrick A. Thronson of Janet, Janet & Suggs LLC, which filed the lawsuit, said in a press release. “If there are other survivors who have suffered abuse or mistreatment at the hands of (the accused teacher) or anyone else, we strongly encourage them to come forward to seek justice and healing and to help protect current and future students from potential abuse.”

In March, police documents about the former teacher were published on social media, in which allegations of sexual abuse of students were made. The teacher was initially suspended after the document was leaked and was later fired.

A timeline was later issued by Ongtengco detailing all the tips they had received regarding the employee – and how they had been handled. The chronology of the allegations goes back to 2011 – during which time the teacher received a disciplinary letter for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a student in his class.

Bensenville Mayor Frank DeSimone has issued a letter calling for the resignation of Superintendent Ongtengco.and all those who knew about the allegations and did nothing.

On March 29 Ongtengco was placed on leaveFenton High School Principal Samuel Bentsen has been temporarily assigned this role.