Special needs child sexually assaulted at a Macon middle school, lawsuit says
A lawsuit filed last week accuses leaders in the Bibb County School District of negligence after a special needs instructor allegedly “molested, sexually assaulted, battered and falsely imprisoned” a disabled minor, court records show.
The complaint, filed by the family of the victim, sued the Bibb County School District, Superintendent Dan Sims and several others, alleging the BCSD employees were negligent in the hiring, training and supervising of Cedric Ray Goolsby, a former special education instructor at Howard Middle School, who allegedly was caught assaulting the student victim, in 2023.
The student was under a special needs program because she had cerebral palsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The lawsuit was initially filed in Bibb County Superior Court on July 30 before being transferred to federal court on Aug. 1 after the family argued that the minor victim’s federal rights were violated by Goolsby and members of the Bibb County School District as a result of the incident.
Who’s being sued and why
In addition to Sims, Board of Education members Thelma Dillard, Lisa Garrett-Boyd, Kristin Hanlon, Myrtice Johnson, Juawn Jackson, Sundra Woodford, James Freeman and Daryl Morton are being sued. Anthony Jones, the principal of Howard Middle School, also is being sued for allegedly being responsible for overall governance of the school, including their personnel hiring criteria.
The lawsuit also names four of Sims’ direct employees, two assistant principals of the middle school, three security personnel, nine middle school staff members and 17 Howard Middle School teachers, according to the lawsuit.
Those employees were accused of negligently hiring Goolsby, considering he did not hold a valid state license typically issued to paraprofessionals, had a history of past criminal charges, and had not yet been approved by the school board’s human resources committee, the lawsuit alleged. They were also accused of not properly supervising him or training him, according to the lawsuit.
The family of the minor victim alleged that the child’s rights were violated under Title IX, which prohibit discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which prohibits discrimination under a program receiving federal financial assistance, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against an individual with a disability.
“Goolsby was not provided with an alternate role or duties while his case was ... awaiting clearance,” the lawsuit said. “Rather, Goolsby was allowed to remain in a position of authority over the most vulnerable population at Howard Middle.”
The family of the minor victim requested a jury trial and damages. A lawsuit represents one side of a legal argument, and those being sued haven’t yet filed a reply in court. But the district offered a statement when contacted by The Telegraph.
“The Bibb County School District takes the safety of all students and staff very seriously,” the school district said in a statement. “The District took immediate action upon receiving allegations of misconduct, including mandated reporting to law enforcement and the (Georgia Professional Standards Commission), as well as providing support for individuals involved.
“Given the matter involved a minor student and pending litigation, the District cannot comment further.”
What happened
Around the time of the incident, Goolsby was assigned to assist multiple students under the Program for Exceptional Children at the middle school, including the minor victim referenced in the lawsuit. His job had him work for the children’s social studies and physical education classes, according to the lawsuit.
On the day of the incident, the minor victim reported to the teacher for her music connections class that she needed to finish a test for another teacher. The teacher for the music connections class permitted the victim to leave the room and counted the child absent, but didn’t provide a pass for the child to go to the “media center,” an area inside Howard Middle School where students would finish their assignments. Passes are usually required to go into the media center, the lawsuit said.
The media center consists of a main area with two rooms, one of them used by a teacher who instructs visually impaired students, while the other is a multipurpose room used in a first-come, first-served basis, according to the lawsuit. The multipurpose room also had three windows, one in the door, another facing the hallway and a third window looking into the media center. The window facing the hallway and the media center have blinds.
The lawsuit said that, according to video footage from the middle school, the minor victim left the music room, went to the gym and motioned for Goolsby to come to the media center. Goolsby was responsible for assisting other students at the physical education class and “should have remained in the gymnasium,” the lawsuit argued.
The alleged victim saw an assistant principal at the media center, who asked the minor why she was there. The victim said she was waiting for Goolsby to help her with schoolwork,” according to the lawsuit. The assistant principal told the student to wait but didn’t check for a hall pass, which the lawsuit said was required.
Goolsby met the student in the multipurpose room, but staff at the media center weren’t aware both of them were using the room. As one of the staff members was preparing to clock out, she noticed something in the multipurpose room and, as she opened the door, she caught Goolsby assaulting the minor, the lawsuit said. However, the clerk closed the door to finish with her tasks.
The clerk later returned, seeing Goolsby and the minor still in the multipurpose room, which led to her instructing both of them to leave the room. The clerk left the media center to report the incident, but “did not remove (the minor) from the danger,” according to the lawsuit.
The minor then left Howard Middle School after the incident “without having talked to or being assessed by any Defendant except for Goolsby, the perpetrator,” the lawsuit said.
“Moreover, Goolsby was left free to wander the halls before he was found and questioned by Principal Jones, who then alerted the authorities,” attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
After the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office conducted an investigation, Goolsby was taken to the Bibb County Jail. He was indicted on May 3, 2023, for five counts of child molestation, one count of sexual battery against a child under 16 and two counts of sexual assault against a person in custody, on probation or parole, patient in a hospital, etc., according to court records. His case is still pending.
After the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office concluded its investigation, the school district conducted its own investigation, which revealed that “just a week prior (to the incident) yet another sexual assault ... by Goolsby took place.”
