Legal Rights of Student Sex Abuse Victims

Attorney contributor Laurence Banville represents sex abuse victims and their families in civil lawsuits. Laurence has offered to share some info on the legal rights of students who have been sexually abused by coaches and other school employees:

Sexual predators are often found in positions of trust, including teaching, coaching, and other educational professions. School officials must do everything they can to make sure all employees are trustworthy and students are safe from sexual predators. But sadly, there have been widespread reports of teachers and coaches sexually abusing students throughout the country.

When a coach or teacher is charged with sexually abusing a student, the school should also be investigated. Some of these cases of abuse only happen due to negligence by school officials, like failing to run background checks or ignoring past complaints of inappropriate behavior by the employee who was arrested. In cases of negligence, school sex abuse victims and their families may have grounds for a lawsuit.

If you or your child is a victim of school sex abuse, you can learn more about your family’s legal options in a free consultation with one of our experienced sex abuse victim lawyers.

Kingston High School in Kingston, NY

Sources

https://wpdh.com/kingston-coach-had-sexual-relationship-with-student-police-say/

https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/northorange/news/area-hs-varsity-coach-charged-with-sexual-abuse-for-alleged-relationship-with-player/789428/

A Drake University student filed a lawsuit this month alleging that an unidentified men’s basketball coach at the school told a player who shot him in the head to lie to responding police officers, according to the Des Moines Register.

Drake forward Tremell Murphy accidentally shot Nathaniel Miller Jr. in the head during a party at his home near campus on Aug. 31, 2019. The gun was Murphy’s, which he had legally obtained.

After the shooting but before officers arrived, per the report, a Drake basketball coach allegedly showed up at the house. The coach then allegedly told Murphy to deny any involvement. Murphy then told officers that Miller had fallen on a wet floor and hit his head.

He was charged with making false reports to the police and discharging a firearm within city limits, both misdemeanors in Iowa. Murphy pled guilty to both accounts, according to the Des Moines Register, and was fined, placed on probation and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence. 

Miller is suing the university, Murphy and the investment group that manages the property where the shooting took place. He alleged that proper medical care was delayed because of the initial false report. He had to undergo surgery, and now struggles with gait and eyesight as a result, per the lawsuit. 

The university denied the allegations in the lawsuit. Drake head coach Darian DeVries did not respond to the Des Moines Register for comment, though he is not named in the lawsuit. 

“It is not true as claimed by the plaintiff that a Drake men’s basketball coach told Mr. Murphy to deny involvement in Mr. Miller’s injuries,” the school said in a statement, via the Des Moines Register. “Additionally, the residence in which the shooting incident took place is a private residence and is not owned or otherwise affiliated with the university.”

Murphy played in just five games for the Bulldogs last year after suffering a season-ending knee injury in their game against Southeast Missouri State on Dec. 7. He averaged 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds while starting all but one contest in his freshman season.

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King County prosecutors have charged an 18-year-old Seattle high school student with the rape of a classmate outside a house party in November.

Jackson Sullivan, who played for West Seattle High School’s baseball team, was arrested on investigation of second-degree rape charges late last month. He posted a $350,000 bail. He is scheduled for arraignment June 4. (Court documents show the timeline was delayed because of the coronavirus.)

Interviews with several witnesses and classmates, detailed in charging documents, allege Sullivan has what the police described as other “alarming” sexual assault accusations. The police investigation into Sullivan is still ongoing, and could result in more charges, the document stated; so far, according to the documents, three other young women have accused Sullivan of nonconsensual sexual contact.

The 16-year-old who reported she was assaulted in November now has court-ordered protection from Sullivan.

The Seattle Times could not reach Sullivan. His mother declined to comment on the allegations.

The initial investigation that led to his charges was lengthy. More than five months passed between when the assault was reported and his arrest on April 29.

“The process of interviewing everyone and witnesses (for a rape case) can take awhile,” said SPD Detective Patrick Michaud, who was not aware of the case when called, but spoke in general terms last week. 

The King County Prosecutor’s Office “did a careful review of the totality of evidence” in the police investigation and determined it was worth charging Sullivan, said Casey McNerthney, a spokesman for the office.

Police documents reveal details from that evening and other alleged assaults.

The 16-year-old girl was also a West Seattle High student. She said she’d been playing beer pong inside the November house party just before the assault, according to the documents. She’d had two drinks, she told police, but began to feel like she was blacking out after Sullivan handed her a third drink, which led her to suspect she might have been drugged.

She said her next memory is of the rape. After launching a “massive” search for her, friends found her in the van with the suspect, which was parked a short distance from the house, the documents said. They told police she was nonverbal, partially clothed and covered in her own vomit.

When they confronted Sullivan, the documents reported he said, “I thought she was good for it.” The documents stated a Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory test determined Sullivan’s DNA was present on the teen’s underwear and vaginal swabs.

As officers investigated the November incident, they learned of other alleged incidents of assaults, according to the charging documents.

Two were from Halloween night 2017. One girl said Sullivan sat next to her, draped a blanket over her legs, and penetrated her with his fingers while others were present. Another young woman, who fell asleep next to Sullivan at a different party, said she awoke to him doing the same thing.

At a party following a school dance in March 2019, another girl, who said she was intoxicated at the time, said Sullivan made advances despite her protests, and penetrated her with his fingers while they were both in his car.

A spokesman for Seattle Public Schools declined to comment on whether Sullivan was still enrolled at the district.

He will appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Ms Locco lost her husband, Frank, in 2017 and left behind three children, one of whom followed in their mother’s footsteps as a schoolteacher.

The educator had a long and successful career. She was a mathematics teacher, acting principal at Chandler Secondary College, principal at South Oakleigh Secondary College and held senior managerial roles in the Victorian Education Department including as acting regional director of the south-eastern region.

She was awarded an Australian Council for Educational Leaders fellowship last year.

The Education Department expressed the sadness they said was being felt across the Victorian education system.

“Deb was a much-loved and admired colleague … known to thousands of Victorian educators through her career,” a department spokesman said.

“She had a clear sense of purpose and deep strength of character, nowhere more evident than in the dignity and fortitude with which she faced the tragic death of her husband.”

Helen Koziaris, principal at South Oakleigh Secondary College, said the school community was grieving at the loss of “not only a professional colleague but a friend to all who shaped and drove educational change and supported staff, students and parents in their day-to-day lives”.

Beach Road has a renowned cycling trail stretching 17 kilometres of the bayside foreshore, with dedicated bike lanes.

Nine News reported the woman was wearing reflective gear, had lights on and was cycling in the bike lane.

On Sunday, police said there had been 92 deaths on Victorian roads so far this year compared to 124 at the same time in 2019.

North Carolina school director charged with plotting to steal $700K in student aid

Updated: 5:42 PM EDT May 24, 2020

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IN A FEW MINUTE. MEREDITH: THANK YOU. WE ARE UNDER PHASE TWO IN REOPENING IN NORTH CAROLINA. PLACES OF WORSHIP ARE ALLOWED TO HOLD INDOOR SERVICE. THIS IS JUST THE SECOND WEEK CHURCHES CAN DO THAT AFTER A LAWSUIT WAS FILED AGAINST THE GOVERNOR. IF YOU CHOOSE TO GO TO CHURCH THIS MORNING, YOU SHOULD KNOW SOME RESTRICTIONS WILL STILL BE IN PLACE. CHURCHES ARE ASKED TO LIMIT CAPACITY, ALLOW FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING, AND ENOURAGE PEOPLE TO WEAR MASK YES, EVEN INSIDE. THE CDC HAS RELEASED NEW GUIDELINES ON HOW PLACES OF WORSHIP CAN SAFELY OPEN AFTER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SAID ALL CHURCHES SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO REOPEN. THE CDC RECOMMENDS SERVICES PROVIDE HAND SANITIZER, ENCOURAGE FACE COVERINGS, INCREASE CLEANING AND SOCIAL DISTANCING. THE CDC SAYS THE FINAL DECISIONS SHOULD BE LEFT UP TO RELIGIOUS LEADERS. LOOKING AHEAD, THE CITY OF GREENSBORO PLANS TO RETURN TO REGULAR OPERATING HOURS IN A LITTLE MORE THAN TWO WEEKS. THE OFFICIAL START DATE IS JUNE 8. CITY MANAGER DAVID PARRISH SAYS THERE WILL BE SHIELDS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING SIGNS AT CUSTOMER SERVICE AREAS. LIBRARIES AND RECREATION CENTERS WILL FOLLOW A DIFFERENT SCHEDULE. PEOPLE ARE STILL ENCOURAGED TO HANDLE CITY BUSINESS BY PHONE, EMAIL OR THROUGH THE POSTAL SERVICE WHEN POSSIBLE. STAYING IN THE GATE, — IN THE GATE CITY, RESTAURANTS CAN APPLY FOR PERMITS TO EXTEND THEIR SPACES TO HAVE MORE OUTDOOR DINING OPPORTUNITIES. IT’S PART OF THE CITY’S INITIATIVE TO GIVE THOSE RESTAURANTS MORE CUSTOMERS TO COME IN WHILE KEEPING THEM SIX FEET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. RESTAURANTS CAN APPLY TO EXTEND THEIR SPACE INTO THE NEIGHBORING SIDEWALK, PARKING SPACES, OR THE ROAD. THIS WOULD ONLY BE ALLOWED IN SLOW-SPEED AREAS, LIKE DOWNTOWN. >> IF WE GET TO WHERE WE WOULD DO A LARGER STREET CLOSURE AND YOU CALL IT MAY BE A BLOCK PARTY, BUT ALL THAT REALLY MIGHT BE IS ALLOWING SEATING IN THE STREET, BUT ADDING ARTISTIC AND CULTURAL ELEMENTS. MAYBE WE ADD LIVE MUSIC AND ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO COME DOWN. MEREDITH: THE APPLICATION FOR THE EXPANSION IS ON OUR WEBSITE. INCLUDING A FAX — FACTS AND QUESTION SHEET. YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT NOW THIS MORNING AT WXII12.COM. THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SAYS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS THE NUMBER OF CORONAVIRUS CASES IN NORTH CAROLINA HAS SEEN THE LARGEST INCREASE SINCE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN. BETWEEN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, MORE THAN 1000 NEW CASES WERE REPORTED IN OUR STATE. THAT BRINGS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF INFECTED PEOPLE IN OUR STATE TO NEARLY 23,000. SINCE YESTERDAY, THE NUMBER OF CASES IN THE PIEDMONT TRIAD HAS GONE UP BY NEARLY 150. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES IS NOW MORE THAN 4,000. THOMASVILLE CITY SCHOOLS SAYS A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR ATTENDED A GRADUATION EVENT SOON AFTER GETTING TESTED FOR COVID-19. BEFORE THE TEST RESULTS CAME BACK. HE ENDED UP TESTING POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS. THE SCHOOL SAYS THAT STUDENT WENT TO AN EVENT WHERE SMALL GROUPS OF STUDENTS WERE FILMED WALKING ACROSS A STAGE TO GET A DIPLOMA. THE SUPERINTENDENT SAYS THE FACULTY WERE WEARING MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING. RIGHT NOW, ONLY SMALL GROUPS OF STAFF ARE ALLOWED BA

North Carolina school director charged with plotting to steal $700K in student aid

Updated: 5:42 PM EDT May 24, 2020

A school director has been charged with plotting to steal approximately $700,000 in student financial aid to help fund a religious leader’s North Carolina ranch.Brenda Joyce Hall, 51, made her initial court appearance on Thursday to face federal charges including aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit student loan fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.Click the video player above for headlines from WXII 12 News.The News & Observer reported that Hall’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. Hall and others resided at a place in Cumberland County called “The Ranch,” which a tent revival preacher owned and operated, prosecutors said in a news release. Hall operated a home school known as “Halls of Knowledge” from the property.An indictment says Hall used fabricated high school transcripts to fraudulently acquire hundreds of thousands of dollars in student aid and used the money to fund the operations of the ranch and make other purchases.The scheme went undetected for several years because Hall and others fraudulently attended and completed online courses, prosecutors said.

RALEIGH, N.C. —

A school director has been charged with plotting to steal approximately $700,000 in student financial aid to help fund a religious leader’s North Carolina ranch.

Brenda Joyce Hall, 51, made her initial court appearance on Thursday to face federal charges including aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit student loan fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

Click the video player above for headlines from WXII 12 News.

The News & Observer reported that Hall’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.

Hall and others resided at a place in Cumberland County called “The Ranch,” which a tent revival preacher owned and operated, prosecutors said in a news release. Hall operated a home school known as “Halls of Knowledge” from the property.

An indictment says Hall used fabricated high school transcripts to fraudulently acquire hundreds of thousands of dollars in student aid and used the money to fund the operations of the ranch and make other purchases.

The scheme went undetected for several years because Hall and others fraudulently attended and completed online courses, prosecutors said.