Parents sue Portland school, district for $9 million after alleged rape of 3rd grade female student in bathroom

A $9 million lawsuit has been filed against Portland Public Schools after a then-third-grade female student was allegedly raped by two male students in a school bathroom.

The suit, filed in March in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleged that the school as well as a non-profit after-school program had failed to protect the girl, who was 9 years old at the time, after a series of sexual assault incidents, according to KATU 2.

In the 2021-22 school year, the girl attended Scott Elementary School in NE Portland as well as a Schools Uniting Neighborhoods after-school program run by the Latino Network.

The lawsuit claimed that the girl had been the victim of multiple incidents of nonconsensual sexual touching by male students both at school and at the after-school program. One of these incidents reportedly involved a boy touching her genital area over her clothing while a teacher was present.

A second male student touched the girl in March 2022, with the female student reportedly trying to protect herself by punching him in the face.

The lawsuit stated that staff at Scott Elementary were made aware of the incident and both the girl and the male student were suspended. The girl’s father was reportedly told that they would make a "safety plan" for her.

The lawsuit said that in April 2022, two male classmates in the after-school program threatened the female student and told her to tell staff members she needed to use the restroom.

She complied and went to the restroom, with the lawsuit alleging that the two male students followed her, locked her in a stall, removed her clothing, and took turns raping her. She attempted to escape and told the male students to stop, but they blocked the door to stop her from leaving while "smiling."

"After the incident, Plaintiff rinsed her mouth with water to wash the germs from the unwanted kissing out of her mouth," the lawsuit stated.

Portland Public Schools and Schools Uniting Neighborhoods allegedly failed to notify law enforcement of the incident after they were notified, instead launching an "internal investigation" which included interviewing the girl without alerting police or her guardians about the attack.

The victim’s father became aware of the attack in the days following and was allegedly told that the male students would remain in the school under a "safety plan," as they had a different lunch period than the victim.

The father unenrolled his daughter from Scott Elementary, while the students received a one-day suspension and were allowed to remain. She was eventually enrolled in another school.

The student has suffered "emotional trauma, pain, suffering, emotional distress, shame, embarrassment, social anxiety, difficulty with concentration, academic setbacks, diminished self-esteem and sense of security, mistrust in the intentions of others, and post-traumatic stress disorder," the lawsuit stated.

The girl’s father reportedly took her to a children’s hospital as well as a child abuse program after the attack, and staff there confirmed that there was both physical and mental evidence of physical and sexual abuse.

The lawsuit claimed that the defendants were "negligent," failing to teach children about "appropriate sexual boundaries," failing to train Portland Public Schools employees to recognize and prevent child sexual abuse, failing to monitor the behavior of students, and "causing the Plaintiff to feel that if she protected herself from unwanted sexual contact, she would be punished by way of reprimand and/or school suspension," among other allegations.

Sydney Kelly, a Portland Public Schools spokesperson, told the outlet, "The district learned of these new allegations last week when we received the lawsuit, and we are investigating. We are mandatory reporters, meaning we must report any instance of possible child abuse and neglect. We take our responsibilities as mandatory reporters seriously and follow the law around reporting."

Latino Network wrote, "We take the allegations very seriously and are working with our legal representation to provide counsel to our organization. We want to affirm that the allegations of sexual assault are not directed towards any current or former Latino Network staff member."