Parents say the district didn’t do enough to protect their daughter after learning of the alleged crime
By JADE AUBREY
Capitol News Illinois
jaubrey@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD — The parents of a 10-year-old girl who allegedly was assaulted repeatedly by a 14-year-old student in the Taylorville School District have filed a federal lawsuit against the school district and the school bus company.
The lawsuit, filed by a Chicago law firm, contains five counts against the Taylorville School District and Durham School Services, including violations of the victim’s Title IX rights, of her right to bodily integrity under the 14th Amendment, willful and wanton negligence, and infliction of emotional distress.
The victim is identified in the suit as Jane Doe, a minor. Her parents are named in the suit, but Capitol News Illinois is not using their names because it would identify the girl.
The victim’s mother said that over the course of a week between late January and early February 2024, her daughter was sexually assaulted by an older student on her daughter’s school bus and at her bus stop. The court filing alleges that the assaults ranged in severity from fondling to digital penetration, most often taking place on the school bus where the perpetrator cornered the girl.
On three separate instances, the perpetrator chased the girl away from a bus stop, held her down, and covered her mouth while he sexually assaulted her, according to the suit.
The lawsuit also alleged that the perpetrator told the girl that he would harm her and her family if she reported the abuse, and that “the perpetrator admitted that he did not even know (her) name when he repeatedly assaulted her.”
The girl is a special needs student living with autism and ADHD, according to the suit.
“We are talking about one of the most vulnerable members of our society — a young, 10-year-old, special needs girl,” the lead attorney on the case, Cass Casper, said during a news conference about the lawsuit Tuesday. “This young child was so confused and distraught by what was occurring that she did not even understand what was occurring.”A spokesman for the school district did not respond to a request for comment by CNI.
After reporting the incident, the mother said she obtained an emergency order of protection for her daughter and brought it to the principal of Taylorville Junior High School, who made a “safety plan” for her daughter. She said the plan prohibited the accused student from coming into contact with her daughter at school, which the order of protection already called for, and simply relocated him to another part of the school building.
“This safety plan was shared with the bus company, my daughter’s fifth grade teacher and office staff,” the mother said during a news conference in the Statehouse in January. “No one else knew of the assaults. No one else knew of the safety plan.”
During that news conference, Peden also said that after several meetings with the school board and multiple court orders, the student was removed from her daughter’s school and sent to an alternative school for the rest of the spring semester. However, in August, she received a phone call about the student’s reentry into her daughter’s school and again asked the school to remove her daughter’s perpetrator.
“We have laws where a student gets expelled for bringing a weapon on school grounds, but what about cases like this, when the student’s body is the weapon?” the mother said.
Casper said the school district conducted what he called a “radically deficient” Title IX investigation. He alleged the school district was “more concerned with absolving the school district of responsibility” than of fleshing out what events took place when and where.
Title IX is a federal law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sexual discrimination in any education program or activity.
The court filing alleged that once the assaults were reported, the parents were informed about several other young victims in the community that the perpetrator had previously inappropriately touched.
“We do have specific information from three other sources that there were similar, not the same, but similar acts that should have raised questions within the community and within the school officials,” Casper said.
The lawsuits also mentions a previous Illinois court case decision, which ruled that a school district is responsible for child abuse occurring on a school bus, alongside the section in the Taylorville School District’s Student Disciple Code that says student conduct on school buses, at extra-curricular activities, on any property within 1,000 feet of school grounds, and “prohibited conduct that is plainly visible to a person situated on school grounds even if the misconduct occurs off of school property” is enforceable.
The lawsuit also seeks compensatory damages for the cost of the girl’s psychological treatment and for her emotional distress, as well as the implementation of new policies that will “prevent future harassment and abuse.”
“Most of what the family has pursued in Taylorville has fallen on deaf ears,” Casper said.
During the news conference, Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, spoke about the failure of a bill he sponsored seeking to expel students who sexually assault another student at school. That bill had 31 co-sponsors in the Senate, 13 of whom were Democrats.
“There are legislators that do not believe that there should be any expulsion or even suspension for any student at all,” McClure said. “There’s a focus too much with some legislators on the perpetrator, we got to look after the perpetrator. What about the victim who can’t even go to school without seeing someone that attacked them on a daily basis?”
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