The Wake County Public School system is accused of failing to protect a 6-year-old and other students from being sexually assaulted by a classmate.
A lawsuit filed on Nov. 3 on behalf of the then-6-year-old plaintiff, who is not named, claims that he was sexually assaulted multiple times by another student at Wake Forest Magnet Elementary School over the course of the 2023-2024 school year, and staff told the student to stop but took no further action.
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The perpetrating student allegedly sexually assaulted the child in the school bathroom.
The lawsuit stated that when the child initially informed his teacher about the incident, the teacher instructed the perpetrating student to stop but did nothing further. The child continued to be sexually assaulted thereafter.
In April 2024, the child told his mother that he was being sexually assaulted, after which she informed the principal of Wake Forest Magnet School of the matter. The principal allegedly denied the accusations, refused to remove the perpetrating student from the child's class and refused to allow the child to move to a different class.
The lawsuit also accuses the perpetrating student of sexually assaulting other minor students at the school.
The Wake County school system is accused of failing to properly and adequately monitor, supervise and protect both the child and the other classmates.
The system is also accused of failing to properly train its employees on the necessary protocols to protect the children from such incidents, and knowingly placed the child in the presence of the perpetrating student.
The lawsuit claims that the school and school system were negligent resulting causing the child to have physical, mental and emotional injuries while in their care. The lawsuit seeks $25,000 in damages.
WRAL News reached out to Wake County schools for comment and are waiting for a response.