Washington high school principal secretly recorded mocking a girl ‘who was sexually assaulted’

A high school principal has been recorded ridiculing a student who reported a sexual assault.  

Aqueelha James could be heard on tape mocking the child in front of colleagues at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Washington.

The pupil had approached James last June to report that she’d been sexually assaulted in the school bathroom.

The child and her mother met with the headteacher in her office, where James was initially sympathetic and supportive.

‘I’m here to support and be of assistance. I don’t like the idea that your daughter has been assaulted sexually. It is a crime,’ James told the pair in audio obtained by The Washington Post.

But after the parent and her daughter left the room, James was recorded mocking the girl’s clothes and saying she planned to ’embarrass her a**’ by casting doubt on her credibility with police.  

‘I’m sick and tired of her and her mom,’ James said in the recording, made by the girl’s mother on her cellphone.

The parent had left the phone in the office unintentionally when she went to console her daughter outside, it’s claimed.

That audio is now evidence in a lawsuit against the principal and the D.C. government seeking at least $5million in damages.  

James was recorded ridiculing the pupil in her office at Roosevelt High School in Seattle, DC

D.C. Public Schools said on Wednesday that an internal investigation had been launched.

In a statement, it said: ‘DCPS does not tolerate sexual misconduct or harassment in our schools. We take the safety and security of all of our students seriously, and while we cannot discuss the specifics of personnel matters, when the issue at Roosevelt was brought to our attention we launched an investigation and took action.’

Mayor Muriel Bowser said that after reviewing the audio, ‘the matter will be reviewed further’.