A Wake County student and her guardian are suing the Wake County Public School System, saying an elementary school classmate sexually abused her and alleging that school employees didn’t do enough to stop it.
It’s the latest lawsuit against Wake’s public school system related to alleged district mishandling of a sexual assault against another student. A similar lawsuit was filed in November related to a case at a different school.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Lawyers in the most recent case allege that the Beaverdam Elementary School student was repeatedly assaulted by a second-grade classmate in 2023.
The Wake school system didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The district typically doesn't comment on pending litigation.
Lawyers for the student, who was not identified by name in the complaint, say that at least one of the alleged assaults was reported by students and that the incident was captured on video. The student is seeking more than $25,000 in damages on allegations that the district was negligent in its response, according to the complaint, which was filed in Wake Superior Court on Monday.
The lawyers allege that the abuse happened in the classroom and hallways and that the school didn't do enough to stop it.
The student accused of assault was moved to another seat in the classroom and later suspended for a day, the complaint says. After that, the student again assaulted the girl, the complaint alleges.
In the lawsuit, the family said they requested that the other student be moved to another classroom and were told that rules prevented that and that the girl would have to request to move herself to another classroom to separate them. After filing police reports and requesting a Title IX investigation, the lawsuit says, the accused student was moved to a different classroom.