ABUSE AT SCHOOL MUST BE STOPPED

“Do not minimize the harassment, assault, and/or discrimination even when a school does,” the SSAIS (Stop Sexual Assault in Schools) website urges. adding that “under Title IX and other state and local laws, students are protected from cyber sexual harassment”

As personal injury attorneys in Indiana, our work at Ramey & Hailey is focused on helping parents of children abused by other students file civil suits against the school district. Our mission includes navigating the very complex and time-sensitive complaint process in order to get families the financial help and legal support they need.

In recent news, an Indianapolis family is suing Roncalli High School and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for failing to protect their Down syndrome son from abuse. In this case, the allegations include both physical/sexual abuse and cyber harassment (football team members threatened to post demeaning videos of the victim urinating).

According to court documents, while the abuse had been ongoing for several years, the school failed to report it to authorities, as required by state and federal law. During those years, the young man sustained both physical and mental health issues requiring treatment, plus physical, emotional, and psychological pain and suffering.

At our law firm, we do our part every day to help victims of bullying, sexual assault, and abuse. We are all too familiar with how hard it is – for both a child or teen victim and for family members – to relive the experience by talking about it with law enforcement and even with us. The fact that in this case, the abuse took place in an institution that parents trust to educate and protect their children makes things even harder.

It’s important to understand that, when a criminal case is brought against a school, for abuse, it can lead to the perpetrator being punished and possibly even deter future crimes.  But it is only through a civil lawsuit that the victim can be compensated.

Abuse at school must be stopped!