Lawsuit claims Leechburg school officials failed to protect 8th grader from being raped in restroom

The mother of a former middle school student alleges in a lawsuit filed against the Leechburg Area School District that a lack of supervision during an after-school program allowed another student to rape her daughter in a school bathroom in 2021.

The civil lawsuit filed in Armstrong County Court by Marsh Law Firm seeks compensation for past and future medical and therapeutic services, pain and suffering, and unspecified punitive damages.

Lawyers for the girl have scheduled a conference call with reporters for 11 a.m. Friday to outline its allegations against the district.

Superintendent Tiffany Nix referred a request for comment to the district’s solicitor, Andrews & Price. Amy R. Schrempf, a lawyer for the firm, said they cannot comment on “active litigation.”

The lawsuit stems from a Nov. 5, 2021, incident during an after-school program at Leechburg Middle/Senior High School in which students were permitted to remain in the building for 30 minutes after dismissal at 2:30 p.m to work on projects and assignments or to get help with their studies, the lawsuit says.

Despite that the program was school-sanctioned, the lawsuit alleges the district had lax rules for how it was operated — students did not have to sign in or tell teachers or other staff they were attending, the lawsuit claims.

Lawyers for the girl allege she was in a hallway after dismissal heading to work on a project when she was approached by a 13-year-old student.

The boy went into a men’s restroom and asked the girl to follow so he could “show her something.”

After she declined repeated requests to follow him inside, the boy asked her to “come in real quick” so he could show her “something funny,” according to the lawsuit.

When the girl relented and followed him into the restroom, he pulled her into a stall, locked the door and raped her, the lawsuit alleges.

Video from security cameras in the hallway shows that, during the 24 minutes the girl was in the restroom, there were no school staff members seen in the hallway, according to the lawsuit.

The girl’s representatives contend that nobody questioned her absence from the program during the time she was being raped because there was no system in place to know which students were staying after school.

On Nov. 8, the girl told a fellow student about the rape who then reported it to a guidance counselor.

The same day, the high school principal, Doug Rodgers, interviewed the girl with her mother present, the lawsuit says.

During that interview, Rodgers questioned the truthfulness of the girl’s allegations and why she would enter the boys bathroom, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses the principal of asking the girl, “Are you sure you’re not just having an argument with your little boyfriend?” and telling the girl and her mother that the boy’s version of events “is a lot different.”

The school guidance counselor reported the incident to Leechburg police, who attended a forensic interview the girl underwent at a child advocacy center in Armstrong County, the lawsuit states. That counselor recommended a second forensic interview at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Leechburg police tested the clothing the girl was wearing the day she was raped and found DNA that matched the boy’s, according to the lawsuit.

The Armstrong County District Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges against the boy that included four felony counts.

The lawsuit says a plea agreement was reached in juvenile court Oct. 3 in which the charge was reduced to a single misdemeanor in exchange for a guilty plea.

Lawyers for the girl said in the lawsuit that the district should have been more vigilant when it came to providing security and monitoring for its programs because of previous incidents.

The lawsuit notes that in 2016, the district was investigated for reports of hazing involving the boys basketball team.

The same year, a 13-year-old was arrested for having a loaded .45-caliber pistol in a restroom, the lawsuit notes.

Also in 2016, the district was investigated for allegations that some school officials failed to report suspected child abuse.