A teen was bullied for being gay and raped. Now his mum claims the school tried to cover it up
A gay teen was verbally, physically and sexual assaulted by his classmates, a shocking lawsuit claims. (Stock photo via UnSplash/Andrew Neil)
A mother is suing a West Virginia, US, school board for allegedly doing nothing to protect her gay son from bullies who verbally, physically and sexually assaulted him.
The Morgantown mother is suing the Monongalia County Board of Education and several other individuals associated with a youth programme for allegedly sweeping his rape “under the rug”, WVnews.com reported.
The lawsuit, filed by Bridgeport attorney Ronald Kramer in Monongalia County Circuit Court, asserted that the teen’s “sexuality has been, and remains, a motivating factor behind the defendants sweeping this outrageous conduct under the rug.”
Moreover, the mother claimed that school officials failed to “take reasonable preventative or remedial measures” that would have protected the teen before he was allegedly sexually assaulted.
Teen forced to see his rapist everyday at school due to teacher’s failure to take action, claims lawsuit.
The mother warned the programme’s executive about how her son was being targeted by bullies in February 2017.
Despite the alerts, the executive director of the community programme failed to “take reasonable preventative or remedial measures,” according to the lawsuit.
However, the school principal reached out to each student and their parent connected to the bullying, the complaint stated.
The assault escalated in the spring of 2017 when one of the bullies allegedly raped the teen. He informed a teacher about it seven months later.
Moreover, he claimed, the rapist was going to out him to his fellow classmates.
Kramer chimed that the teacher “never reported the rape despite the fact that she was required to under West Virginia law”.
This meant that the teen was “forced to to see and interact with his assailant on a regular basis at school and activities, which caused him great pain and trauma,” Kramer alleged.
She was only told about it 11 months later, after she had already heard it from her own child.
The teacher, the lawsuit continued, did not inform authorities about the assaults because she did not want to betray the teen’s trust.
The mother then notified the Board of Education of the rape and the failure to report it, the lawsuit claimed.
According to the complaint, the victim’s assailant has faced “no meaningful consequences to his actions which likely will embolden him to victimise other children.”
While the teacher remains on duty,“where she remains a threat to other students who may report sexual and/or other misconduct”.
The lawsuit seeks punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages.
