Correspondence from a Scranton, Penn. attorney indicates that a male high school student who claims he had sex with a high school English teacher will now sue the school district for negligence.
The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre obtained a copy of a letter from the attorney, Susan L. Luckenbill. It is addressed to Charles Suppon, superintendent of the Wyoming Valley West School District.
According to the March 21 letter, the impending lawsuit will allege negligence by the district because an unidentified male teenager had sexual encounters with the teacher, Lauren Harrington-Cooper.
The letter calls the male teen “a victim of sexual assault” who suffered “damages and injuries” as a result of sex with the 31-year-old English teacher.
The sexual contact allegedly occurred over the course of about three months, from “October 2013 through December 2013.”
Harrington-Cooper is currently standing trial on charges that she had sex or other inappropriate sexual contact with a total of four minors—all male.
The Wyoming Valley West High School teacher allegedly started a sexual relationship with one student – a senior – after having his sister tell him she thought he was “hot.” There were a few dalliances that included oral sex and intercourse. The boy’s parents say they found sexually explicit chat on their computer as well. (RELATED: This semester’s top 11 teachers busted for getting busy with their students)
Since the initial allegations against Harrington-Cooper surfaced, three additional students came forward to say they, too, suffered sexual assaults at the hands of the married teacher, according to local ABC affiliate WNEP.
The multitude of charges against Harrington-Cooper involves incidents of sexual intercourse and several episodes of oral sex.
The four teens ranged in age between 16 and 18 at the time of the encounters.
It’s not clear which of the teens is threatening to sue. The names of the student and his parents are redacted in Luckenbill’s letter.
A lawyer representing the school district, Michael Hudacek, said the district will defend itself vigorously against any civil lawsuit.
“I don’t see where the district was negligent in any way,” Michael Hudacek told The Citizens’ Voice.
“This is what lawyers do,” he added.
On Jan. 22, Harrington-Cooper resigned from her $45,075-a-year job. She is currently out of jail on $50,000 bail.
The expected lawsuit against the Wyoming Valley West School District and Harrington-Cooper is not the first time a male student has sued over a sexual encounter with a female teacher.
Just last week, The Daily Caller reported that an unidentified former student in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex is suing because, he claims, the sexual relationship he had with teacher Rachelle Heenan in 2012 inflicted such extensive emotional and physical damage that he has been forced to delay entry into the Marine Corps. (RELATED Lawsuit: Teen’s sex romps with female teacher so mind-blowing he can’t join Marines)
The complaint alleges that Heenan, then 34, repeatedly exploited the then 17-year-old boy’s adolescent, still-developing mind by engaging in raunchy sexting sessions and, eventually, a slew of sex romps—during school events, in Heenan’s vehicle and in at least one local hotel.
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