PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL (WFLX) - A Treasure Coast mother is suing the St.
Lucie County school district claiming her mentally disabled daughter was
sexually assaulted at her school, more than once.
Attorneys from
Palm Beach Gardens based LaBovick Law group filed the suit Tuesday
night in district court, detailing an allegation of a nightmare
scenario, that the victim couldn't fully comprehend.
The 16
year-old victim in this case was attending Westwood High School in Fort
Pierce last year. In her class, was a disabled male student who,
according to the lawsuit, had been kicked out of more than one high
school for a history of sexually aggressive behavior.
Despite that, the suit claims teachers encouraged the students to become a couple so as to more easily control them.
At
some point, the male student allegedly figured out how he could take
the victim away from the classroom and into an unsupervised area in
order to perform sexual acts on her or for her to perform sexual
activity on him. "She just doesn't have the capacity to say no.
And a 7-year-old mentality put in the same room as a sexual predator is
just incredible," said attorney Joe Fields.
The suit claims
that during one sex act, the girl got sick and spit up on her shirt.
After the teacher discovered what had happened, she allegedly told the
girl to throw out her shirt. But the girl put it in her backpack and
took it home.
In another alleged incident the boy took the girl
behind the cafeteria to engage in a sexual encounter that lasted at
least an hour. "It's a lack of supervision, a lack of
training. Violation of the child's constitutional rights. Violation of
federal laws regarding educating children with special needs," said
Fields.
Attorneys say the victim was even thrown out of school
for a time before it could be determined what was happening. The girl
is now back in the school system. Attorneys are thankful she could at
least explain what was happening to her.
"There are children
that simply don't have the capacity to do that. I think our client is
hoping to make some serious changes in how the school system up there
handles these types of cases," said Fields.
The LaBovick Law
group provided a heavily redacted report from the Department of Children
and Families that found allegations of inadequate supervision were not
substantiated.
A report filed by a school resource deputy on one
of the incidents said that because there was no actual penetration and
that this was a consensual encounter, no criminal charges were going to
be pursued.
A spokeswoman with the St. Lucie County School District said the district can not comment on pending litigation.
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