Woman says in lawsuit she was sexually abused as teen by Wilkinsburg School District security guard

A lawsuit filed Monday in state court accuses Wilkinsburg School District of failing to protect one of its students from sexual abuse by a security guard 14 years ago.

The complaint, filed by a woman identified only by initials, alleges that when she was a middle school student from 2009 until 2011, she was raped several times by Tyrone Devon Baxter, who was employed by Victory Security as a guard in the high school.

Ten years later, at the age of 25, the plaintiff went to Wilkinsburg police and reported the abuse. A criminal complaint filed against Baxter in the summer of 2020 said he admitted to having a sexual relationship with the girl, but denied raping her.

Baxter pleaded guilty to sexual assault, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor in June 2021 and was ordered to serve two to six years in prison and register for the rest of his life as a sex offender.

Baxter, 42, is being held at the State Correctional Institution at Benner.

The lawsuit names as defendants Wilkinsburg School District, Allegheny County, Victory Security Agency and Baxter.

In a statement, the district said it had not yet had an opportunity to review the complaint and added, “Because the suit involves allegations of events from more than 10 years ago, the current administration and most staff members were not serving in the district at that time and, therefore, the district simply is unable to provide comment at this time.”

A spokesperson for the county said they had no comment.

Phone numbers listed for Victory were disconnected.

The lawsuit said the plaintiff was in eighth grade in 2009 when Baxter befriended her.

“He quickly engaged in grooming conduct in order to spend one-on-one time with plaintiff by increasingly exerting authority over her and furnishing alcohol to her at the young age of 14,” the lawsuit said.

Baxter also would withhold her hall pass, stalk her and put her in the corner of classrooms, the complaint said.

When the sexual abuse began, Baxter touched the girl in the school hallways and gym, as well as the weight room and lunch room, the lawsuit said.

“This exertion of authority was a commonplace occurrence so much so that staff members of the school district observed or at the very least should have observed such conduct but instead turned a blind eye to it,” the lawsuit said.

The complaint said the girl became convinced that she and Baxter were in a committed, consensual relationship and she would sometimes stay at his home, telling her foster mother she was staying at a friend’s house.

It was during a movie night at Baxter’s home, the lawsuit continued, that he raped her.

The complaint alleges that it occurred several times — often several times a week — and that Baxter told the girl she needed to keep it a secret, including threatening her with a gun to her head.

During her freshman year, the girl became pregnant. The lawsuit said she told the school nurse about the pregnancy and the circumstances leading up to it.

“The nurse outright ignored (the girl) without taking any report of or reporting to authorities or others the circumstances of the pregnancy or taking any further safety or protectionary measures,” the lawsuit said.

The girl had an abortion and provided her medical records to the police when she went to them in 2019.

The lawsuit includes claims for negligence as well as negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

It also includes claims of sexual abuse against Baxter.