A federal lawsuit details an alleged sexual assault of a female student by a male student at the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences.
“This case is about how a public school and its administrators failed to protect a young female student from sexual assault, harassment and bullying,” said the lawsuit filed Dec. 1 by Eddie Schmidt, a Nashville-based attorney.
The lawsuit against Hamilton County Schools alleges a female student, 13, was repeatedly bullied, harassed and sexually assaulted by a male student, also 13, and that the school principal and assistant principal failed to protect the female student when she reported the alleged assault.
Schmidt told the Chattanooga Times Free Press by phone Tuesday that he did not include a dollar amount for compensation in the lawsuit — filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Chattanooga Division — to not take away attention from the events that happened to his client.
“I didn’t put down a specific number because that generally gets the headline in any news report. It distracts from any underlying allegations,” Schmidt said. “In this particular case it is quite serious, and the conduct described is quite alarming.”
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The conduct toward the female student — named Jane Doe in the lawsuit because she is a minor and a sexual assault victim — details how a male student — referred to as Jim Doe, also a minor — repeatedly harassed her and allegedly sexually assaulted her in December 2021.
The sexual assault incident was followed by unrelenting bullying from the alleged perpetrator, as well as other students, leading Jane Doe to attempt suicide by swallowing aspirin, according to the lawsuit.
“Beginning in late November and extending into December 2021, Jim began confronting and accosting Jane with sexual threats and taunts …” the lawsuit said.
The threats and taunts allegedly included the male student asking the female student if he could see her naked and if she could perform oral sex on him.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reached out to Hamilton County Schools for comment.
“Hamilton County Schools is aware of a lawsuit filed concerning an incident last year at the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences,” spokesman Steve Doremus said by email. “Our district works every day to support the education, safety and wellbeing of our students. As this matter involves pending litigation, we will have no additional comment at this time.”
The female student made a complaint to her science teacher about the harassment from the male student, according to the lawsuit.
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After the complaint was made, “Jim Doe came behind her and put his hands on her hips and began to grind his genital area onto her rear end” as she was leaning over a table to look at a science project, according to the lawsuit.
On Dec. 9, 2021, the male student invited the female student to walk through the school hallways, and the two ended up in an unlocked boiler room, according to the lawsuit, where the male student allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him.
“In the weeks after the Dec. 9 incident, Jim Doe and other students accosted and threatened Jane Doe with sexual taunts,” the lawsuit stated.
The student wrote down details about the incident for the science teacher, who then presented the note to an administrator who at first didn’t believe the student, according to the lawsuit. Then the administrator saw surveillance tapes showing the students entering the boiler room, according the the lawsuit.
Administrators are accused in the lawsuit of not taking immediate action against the male student and failing to notify the female student’s parents of the alleged assault.
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The lawsuit also claims the female student sustained injuries from a fall after she was allegedly pushed down a flight of stairs by a student, as well as having a “psychological breakdown” as a result of unrelenting bullying.
The male student was arrested March 22 and charged with rape and attempted kidnapping, according to the lawsuit.
The Times Free Press reached out to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office to see how reports from students alleging sexual assault while on campus are handled. Spokesman J. Matt Lea said state law requires the office to investigate all cases of sexual assault reported to school officers.
“Once our personnel are made aware of an alleged sexual assault incident in a school, a law enforcement investigation is immediately begun,” Lea said in an email. “These investigations can be worked either by the school resource deputy or if need be, transferred to investigative services for further investigation.”
The female student is now being home-schooled and undergoing counseling, according to Schmidt.
“Jane continues the difficult process of healing from her terrible experiences described in the lawsuit,” Schmidt said in an email on behalf of her parents. “We request that our privacy be respected.”
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.