The mother of a 5-year-old Richland One student is reportedly suing the school district for alleged sexual assaults performed against her daughter by an older child on the school bus, according to a lawsuit filed on Oct. 8, according to Fits News.
A mother has filed a lawsuit against Richland School District One, claiming her 5-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted and harassed multiple times on a school bus earlier this yearhttps://t.co/Q5avrxGgYl
— ABC News 4 (@ABCNews4) October 13, 2020
The lawsuit against Richland County District One states that the girl told her mother back in February that an older male student on the bus tried to force the 5-year-old girl to perform oral sex on him. The lawsuit also states that the male student also kissed, touched and performed a “grinding” action against her, according to Fits News.
The mother, is referred to as “Jane Doe”, in the lawsuit – in order to protect her daughter’s privacy.
Jane Doe’s daughter, who is a pre-school student at Brennen Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina informed her mother back in February that an older male student on her bus had allegedly pulled out his penis, asked her to perform oral sex. The male student also allegedly tried to shove her head down and frequently tried to touch her inappropriately, according to the lawsuit
Attorney Tyler Bailey of Bailey Law firm, which represents the mother and daughter, wrote that the school district had “a duty to prevent the older identifiable male student from frequently sexually assaulting and harassing (the 5-year-old girl) and/or conducting himself in a manner that created an unreasonable risk of harm to others,”
An investigation by the school administration found that the sexual assaults were recorded on the security camera of the bus, according to Fits News. Video footage from the security camera shows that the 5-year-old female student was frequently sexually assaulted while she was sitting at the front of the bus, within distance of the bus driver.
Richland One has a policy which requires pre-k students to sit at the front of the bus so that the drivers can monitor the students closely. The older male student should have been sitting in the back of the bus, the lawsuit states.
The girl tried to tell the bus driver about at least one of the assaults, according to the lawsuit. The sexual assaults continued even after the girl spoke up and tried to seek help. (Related: Richland One Teacher Accused Of Snorting Drugs In Front Of Class Gets License Revoked)
Both the mother and daughter have “suffered and will in the future suffer severe pain, permanent emotional distress, humiliation, mental anguish, indignity, loss of pleasures and enjoyment of life which will in the future require psychological and psychiatric medical care and treatment, ” the lawsuit states.
The mother and daughter are suing Richland One for negligence, outrage, premise liability, and negligent hiring and supervision.