Missouri school district officials have been accused of failing to protect a student after three of his baseball teammates allegedly pinned him down in a dugout, sexually assaulted him and shoved a dirty condom in his mouth.
The lawsuit filed by a parent of the Spokane High School boy claims he was subjected to endless torture and bullying from his classmates after school officials notified students of the investigation into.
The student claimed he was ‘physically blocked’ from getting to his locker and was intimidated in the hallways and on the baseball field.
The Springfield News Leader reports that the bullying included threatening messages and ‘got so bad, his older sister had to escort him to and from class,’ according to the lawsuit.
After filing the suit, the parent transferred his children to another school district in March.
He says his son has required therapy and other treatment and is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
Street view of Spokane High School in Springfield, Missouri, where a student was touched ‘in a sexually overt manner’ by three baseball players
Teachers were made aware of the suspected abuse by another student in the school, but then the other teen was targeted for reporting the allegations.
The state’s Children’s Division began investigating after a group of teachers made a hotline call.
According to the lawsuit, the office demanded the district turn over all of its records concerning the two incidents, but school officials initially refused, complying only after detectives threatened to get a warrant.
The suit also alleges that district officials warned students that authorities were investigating.
Among those named in the suit is Spokane High School principal Chris Kohl, who was placed on paid administrative leave a week ago.
The suit was filed in Christian County and said a freshman who witnessed what happened in the spring of 2016 was sexually assaulted months later by some of the same people.
The suit said Kohl was notified but failed to contact state officials or law enforcement, even though he was a mandated reporter.
Instead, the students who involved were interviewed and given a five-day suspension, which was commuted to a three-day suspension. None of them had to miss baseball games, the suit said.
The Spokane district is cooperating with the criminal investigation but doesn’t comment on pending litigation, said Terry Jamieson, who became superintendent of the 700-student Christian County school system in July.