A young girl and her guardian sued an Oregon nonprofit, Portland Public Schools and Multnomah County for $9 million, alleging they were negligent when male classmates sexually assaulted her at school and raped her at an after-school program when she was 9 years old. third grade student.
The child, now 11, attended a Portland elementary school and an after-school program run by Multnomah County on his school campus in partnership with Latino Network and Portland Public Schools.
The lawsuit says the girl was subjected to several episodes of nonconsensual sexual touching during school hours. In March 2022, she punched a classmate in the face to protect herself when he touched her mouth with his, but the lawsuit says the school suspended her and her attacker for that incident.
The next month, two other students trapped her in a bathroom during recess at their after-school program and raped her, according to the lawsuit. The school became aware of the assault when the parent of one of the male attackers heard about it from their child and reported it.
The lawsuit alleges that the school and extracurricular program failed to immediately notify law enforcement and begin an internal investigation. It says school district staff interviewed the girl without informing law enforcement or her parents of the sexual assault or their interview.
The school suspended both men for a day and said they would remain at school with a safety plan. But the girl’s father didn’t believe this would keep his daughter safe and so enrolled her and her younger brother in another Portland public school. As a result, the girl and her brother missed nearly a month of schooling.
The lawsuit said Portland Public Schools should have known that the plaintiff was vulnerable and at risk of ongoing sexual assault by male students. It alleges the school district was negligent by failing to adequately train and teach students about appropriate sexual boundaries and how to report abuse.
The lawsuit alleges that the school system led the plaintiff to believe that she would be reprimanded if she protected herself from unwanted sexual contact. It claims the school system was negligent in failing to report student vulnerabilities to after-school program staff and to train employees to monitor, recognize and report child sexual abuse.
It alleges that Latino Network and Multnomah County were negligent in failing to maintain students’ attention during the after-school program and to adequately train after-school program employees to monitor, recognize and report sexual abuse on children and abuse.
Portland Public Schools said in a statement that it became aware of the new allegations when it received the lawsuit and was investigating. He said he is required to report any possible cases of child abuse and neglect to the Oregon Department of Human Services, and those reports are confidential.
“We take our responsibilities as mandatory filers seriously and follow the law when it comes to reporting,” he said.
Multnomah County said it does not comment on pending litigation. Latino Network said news of the lawsuit is “painful” for the organization, which is committed to trauma-informed practices.
“We take these allegations very seriously and are working with our legal representation to advise our organization,” he said.
The lawsuit was filed March 20 in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
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