Family sues school district over rape of special education student in junior high – Indianapolis News | Indiana Weather | Indiana Traffic

FISHERS, Ind. (WISH) – A family is suing Hamilton Southeastern Schools, claiming the school district did not do enough to prevent their autistic child from being raped multiple times at school.

According to the lawsuit, the child was raped 11 times over the course of several months in a bathroom at Fishers Junior High School, where grades 7 and 8 are taught.

Attorney Tammy Meyer, who is representing the family, said: “The child and his parents are really struggling. They are struggling not only with what happened, but with being forced to file a lawsuit to get justice. It is a failure from the teachers and the support staff to the assistant principal, the counselor, the principal, all the way up to the school board.”

According to the lawsuit, the sexual assaults began in August and continued until at least January.

The child’s attorneys told I-Team 8 that the child was forced to perform sexual acts after another student lured him to the bathroom using a school device.

Meyer said, “This offender was sending emails to our child through a school-sponsored and school-monitored email service, repeatedly luring her to the bathroom. And this is happening during school hours, during class. So kids who have to go to the bathroom during class should be given a hall pass and monitored in some way. That didn’t happen here, so it was able to go on for months before it was discovered by the parents.”

Attorney Catherine Michael, who is also representing the family, said: “This was a special needs student with autism, speech impediment and intellectual disability who was placed in a special education class full time because of his high level of care needs. The idea that children with these needs can be left alone in a school building, whether walking down a hallway or going to a bathroom or being the victim of an assault, is, in my opinion, very disturbing.”

After learning of the sexual assault, the child’s parents went to the school. The lawsuit says the principal refused to speak with them.

The deputy headmaster spoke to them, but simply asked the parents what they thought he should do about the situation without providing a plan of action.

Meyer said: “The school must take responsibility for what happened and ensure that this does not happen to any other child.”

The school district released a statement to I-Team 8.

“We are aware of the recent lawsuit and take such matters very seriously. While we are unable to discuss the specifics of the case at this time due to the sensitivity and ongoing nature of the proceedings, we are fully committed to cooperating in the legal process.

“When these allegations were brought to our attention, we took appropriate steps to ensure a safe learning environment. Our top priority is the safety and well-being of every student entrusted to our care.”

According to her LinkedIn profile, Crystal Thorpe, the principal of Fishers Junior High School, left the school district in March to become director of teaching and learning at Washington Township Schools in Indianapolis.

The school board subsequently promoted Deputy Principal Tige Butts to Principal.

Both Thorpe and Butts are named in the lawsuit along with Superintendent Patrick Mapes, teacher Helen Estep, guidance counselor Basel Maarouf and Title IX coordinator Jimmie Lake.

While the lawsuit seeks financial compensation for the trauma caused by the sexual assault, the child’s lawyers said no amount of money in the world could make up for this injustice.