Three middle school officials in the Torrance Unified School District are under fire in a new lawsuit filed against the district claiming the officials “failed to follow up on allegations of sexual abuse by a group of male pupils against an autistic female student.” The suit itself was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and alleges that “Calle Mayor Middle School principal David Mosley, assistant principal James Ashikawa and special education teacher William Kealey violated state law” when they failed to file a police report of suspected child abuse.
Three middle school officials in the Torrance Unified School District are under fire in a new lawsuit filed against the district claiming the officials “failed to follow up on allegations of sexual abuse by a group of male pupils against an autistic female student.” The suit itself was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and alleges that “Calle Mayor Middle School principal David Mosley, assistant principal James Ashikawa and special education teacher William Kealey violated state law” when they failed to file a police report of suspected child abuse.
In fact, instead of reporting the suspected child abuse, the suit claims the defendants retaliated against the autistic student and her family. But what happened? What kind of alleged child abuse occurred?
According to the lawsuit, back on November 2, 2016, “two middle school students sexually harassed and molested a fellow student, identified at Jane Ah Doe, who is on the autism spectrum.” The suit claims the alleged attack took place during lunchtime “in an area of campus known to be dangerous and off limits to special needs students.”
While the suit doesn’t mention how or when the defendants learned about the alleged abuse, it states the three school officials “investigated and received a confession from one of the boys, who admitted to sexually abusing Doe multiple times on different occasions, with another student sometimes watching.” Not once did the officials reach out to police or attempt to help the victim. Instead, the suit argues that the officials attempted to cover up the incident and the assistant principal even “accused Jane Ah Doe of consenting to the molestation” and asked “if Jane Ah Doe regularly engaged in pulling her pants down.”
Additionally, the officials allegedly “refused to confirm the identities of the perpetrators, refused to move the perpetrators to another classroom and told (her guardians and mother) that they should move Jane Ah Doe to a different school,” according to the suit.
To make matters worse, back in February 2017, the middle school eventually agreed to assign Doe an aide to “provide one-on-one assistance and protection,” but the aide was withdrawn a month later. When Doe’s mother asked why, Kealey said it was “what happens when you get lawyers involved.” Additionally, Mosley told Doe’s family that the “school was not required to provide individualized care to the student.”
As a result of her experience, Doe’s mother said her daughter continues to suffer emotionally and is battling “depression, mental anguish, and humiliation.”
Despite the allegations, no criminal charges have been filed against the students who abused Jane Ah Doe.
This isn’t the first time Torrance Unified School District has been at the center of sexual abuse allegations. Earlier this year, the district agreed to a $31 million settlement with families of students molested by a former wrestling coach.
Sources:
Lawsuit argues three Torrance Unified school officials ignored sexual abuse of student with autism
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