Chartiers Valley girl, family sue district over alleged sexual abuse by fellow pupil in 3rd grade

The family of a student at Chartiers Valley School District is suing the district for negligence claiming officials there failed to protect their daughter from sexual harassment — and then sexual abuse — by a fellow third-grader.

The abuse, according to the complaint filed Friday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, began in 2017, continued through the spring of 2018 and frequently occurred in the students’ classroom during inside recess.

Plaintiffs include the student, who attended the intermediate school, and her parents.

They are identified only by their initials.

The district did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the complaint, the alleged victim was 8 years old in third grade during the 2017-2018 school year when a boy in her class began to sexually harass her.

The boy, the complaint said, had previously been held back and was older than the alleged victim.

The first allegation of harassment, the lawsuit said, occurred in November 2017 when the student called the girl “sexy,” while on the school bus together.

The girl told her parents what happened, the lawsuit said, and they told her to try to stay away from him.

The next month, the complaint said, the student sat close to the girl in the back corner of the classroom and commented on her chest and genitals using sexual language.

That behavior, the lawsuit alleged, continued several times over several days.

Then, in December 2017, the lawsuit said, the boy warned the girl if she told anyone about his conduct, he would “‘beat her up,’ or ‘bring a gun and shoot’ her.”

He also threatened “that if she tried to move or stop him, he would ‘punch her so hard,’ that she ‘wouldn’t see another day,’” the lawsuit said.

Frozen with fear

On Dec. 12, 2017, the alleged victim disclosed the sexual harassment she’d experienced to her mom, and later that day, her parents met with school administrators.

Her parents asked that the boy be moved out of their daughter’s classroom and transferred to a different bus.

The lawsuit asserts that the district moved the boy, but that his new classroom was next to to the girl’s and that the two classrooms interacted during lunch, gym and recess.

The district initially suggested the girl’s parents should provide alternate transportation, but when they objected, school officials said they would provide a bus monitor to ensure the girl’s safety, according to the suit.

The district never did, though, the lawsuit said, and the girl’s family was forced to make other arrangements.

In January 2018, the girl told the school counselor the boy was continuing to cause problems during recess and lunch.

“At no point did any faculty, staff or employees of the school district intervene to prevent (the boy) from entering (the girl’s) classroom or being in close proximity to her during shared activities,” the lawsuit said.

That spring, the complaint said, the boy approached the girl during indoor recess while she was sitting in the back corner of the classroom reading.

The lawsuit claimed he got on top of her and forcibly touched her over and under her clothing.

Such assaults occurred multiple times during that semester, the suit alleged.

The girl cried during the assaults but felt frozen with panic by the boy’s threats to harm her, the complaint said.

The lawsuit asserts that the teacher was not present in the classroom at the time or was not paying attention.

Nightmares and flashbacks

The girl did not immediately disclose what happened, the lawsuit said, because she feared being labeled a “tattletale.”

Eventually, the complaint said, the boy was expelled and moved away from the district.

But in April 2022, the lawsuit said, the girl attempted to harm herself, which led to her being hospitalized for mental health treatment.

Later that year, the girl experienced severe depression and suicidal ideation and was again hospitalized.

It was during that time, the lawsuit said, that she disclosed to medical staff that she “‘had bad trauma from when I was in third grade.’”

“(She) told the psychiatrist: ‘I was touched all over my body by a boy in my class, he was a little bit older, but he got held back a bunch of times,’” the lawsuit said.

The girl reported that the “‘the school didn’t do anything about it,’” and that the teacher “‘was horrible, she never paid attention, she would always walk out of the classroom.’”

She described the incidents and said she’d experienced nightmares and flashbacks. She said the abuse “‘kept happening even after she told the teachers,’” according to the lawsuit.

After that, the suit said, she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, adjustment disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Later, during additional mental health treatment, the complaint said, the girl reported she would vomit and experience panic attacks when she was nervous.

The lawsuit asserts that the district created a dangerous situation by not properly moving the boy from the girl’s classes and not properly supervising indoor recess.