Girl aged 14 raped in school toilets after teachers’ plan to ‘use her as bait’ backfires

 – Staff trying to stop reported sexual abuse were told they needed evidence – so they used the girl as ‘bait’ but then forgot about her, a lawsuit claims.

A 14-year-old special needs pupil was raped in her school toilets after teachers set up a trap to catch an alleged sexual abuser by using her as ‘bait’ – but then forgot about her. Staff at Sparkman Middle School, Alabama, were investigating complaints that a 16-year-old student with a long history of sexual and violent misconduct had been harassing several girls. Teachers received complaints that the boy, who also has special needs, had been asking girls to have sex with him. So one teacher’s assistant told the 14-year-old girl that staff could punish him, but only if they could “catch him in the act.” When none of the school staff followed her into the toilets immediately, she was sexually assaulted and raped.

The incident happened in January 2010 but was made public this month after a legal document was published addressed to the United States Court of Appeals from the victim’s guardian, backed by the US Department of Justice. In the report, it is alleged staff ‘shredded disciplinary files’ at the end of each year and relied on their memory to keep track of records – including those of the 16-year-old male. But the report highlights how in 2008 he ‘touched girls in inappropriate places’ and wrote an ‘inappropriate note’ asking them to have sex. Over the next two years he was suspended for ‘sexual harassment’ and ‘making inappropriate comments’ and was suspended after stating he ‘would like to kill’ one student. In January 2010, several reports were made that he had ‘repeatedly been trying to get girls into the boys’ bathroom’ and that he ‘had sex with a student in the bathroom’ on the special needs student corridor – but he denied these accusations. It was reported that the school’s principal Ronnie Blair told one member of staff that the 16-year-old could not be punished because he had not been ‘caught in the act’.