Parents sue Edwardsville District 7, say 6-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted
The parents of a 6-year-old Glen Carbon girl are suing Edwardsville School District 7, alleging their daughter was sexually assaulted by another kindergartner during recess.
The lawsuit was filed in Madison County Court on Feb. 7. The girl is identified only as Jane Doe and her parents as John and Mary Doe. The suit alleges that the Edwardsville school district was negligent in its supervision of the students during recess periods.
The girl’s parents say in the suit that on Feb. 25, 2019, their daughter told them a male student in her kindergarten class had forcibly kissed her and touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions during recess at an unspecified school within the district.
According to the suit, the girl had told a playground monitor about the incidents, but “no actions were taken to stop the abuse.” The child told her parents that the incidents were a daily occurrence.
Approximately 90 children are supervised by two adults during recess time at the school, the suit states.
“...this assault and harm would never have occurred but for the Defendant’s lack of exercising ordinary care,” states the complaint, which was filed by the family’s attorney, Keith Jacob.
The parents state in the lawsuit that their daughter “has been waking up often in the night crying,” and that she began wetting the bed and herself “which is and was abnormal behavior.”
The family has been paying for counseling for the girl and have incurred other medical bills, the lawsuit also states. They are seeking $50,000, legal costs and other damages as determined by the court.
The parents took their daughter out of the school following the allegations and said in the suit they had moved from Swansea to the Glen Carbon area “in hopes to provide their children with a better community and better educational options.”
District 7 Superintendent Jason Henderson said he could not speak to the specifics of the lawsuit, but issued a statement via email answering general questions about school procedures and policies. He called student safety and security “our hightest priority.”
“While we cannot address the specifics of the recent complaint filed at the Madison County Courthouse due to student confidentiality issues, we can assure you that students are carefully monitored and supervised throughout their school day while they are in the classroom and while they are engaged in less structured activities such as recess,” the statement says.
“In District 7, all staff are trained to report student concerns or complaints regarding another student’s behaviors to an appropriate school official. With regard to the February 2019 incident referenced in the lawsuit, due to the serious nature of the allegations, the alleged incident was fully investigated. No further allegations or incidents have been reported.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
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