Lamar County principal wanted dismissal of lawsuit over student sex assault. Judge says no
A Macon federal judge said in court records Thursday that a Lamar County Middle School principal didn’t take action after a family’s warnings of their daughter being harassed led to her being sexually assaulted, and thus can be sued by the victim’s family.
The Lamar County School District, Lamar County Middle School Principal Stephen Boyd, and physical education teachers Timothy Jones and Juan Diaz were sued by an anonymous family in April after the family’s young daughter, who was 11 years old at the time, was allegedly sexually assaulted by a 13-year-old classmate in April 2023.
Despite all the defendants claiming immunity from being sued in this case, Boyd and the Lamar County School District remain in the suit, court records show. Others have been dismissed.
How parents became aware of issue
The victim had behavioral conditions that made her more vulnerable to her classmates’ alleged attacks, including a learning disability, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, according to the lawsuit.
Her parents were first aware of an issue when they saw that the 13-year-old attacker allegedly sent sexually explicit messages to their daughter via Roblox, an online video game , the lawsuit said. The girl’s mother contacted Boyd and reported the messages, as well as described her daughter’s disabilities. She also expressed fear that her daughter would be sexually assaulted, according to the lawsuit.
Boyd responded, saying that he would talk with other school officials to “see where we can put either one of them so they are not in the same co-teach classes all day,” according to the lawsuit. He also said both students would have new schedules.
The new schedules were supposed to establish that both students would have physical education classes in different locations and with different teachers, according to the lawsuit. However, on April 26, 2023, the attacker was allegedly present on the soccer field with the victim during a class period despite the separation plan, according to court records.
The alleged attacker kicked the girl’s soccer ball into the woods. When she went to look for the ball, he followed and sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit alleges.
As a result, she suffered severe psychological trauma , according to the lawsuit. She got frequent nightmares relating to the incident and became terrified of the woods, court records said.
Principal was indifferent to sexual harassment claim, judge rules
Jones and Diaz were dismissed from the lawsuit because, even though they taught physical education class where the assault alleged occurred, they didn’t know about the 13-year-old boy’s alleged history of sexually harassing students and the boy’s messages to the victim, according to the order. They didn’t know this because “Defendants failed to properly communicate the purported separation requirements to staff members, to include Defendant Jones and Diaz,” according to the lawsuit.
Treadwell acknowledged the assault happened, but it was unclear if the boy faced charges related to the incident.
But Boyd was aware of the incident, since the victim’s family reached out in fear after the 13-year-old allegedly sent the explicit messages to the victim. Even though he assured that the victim would be separated from the 13-year-old, the principal “didn’t bother to put (the separation requirements) in place,” according to Treadwell.
“That, if anything, makes it even more egregious,” Treadwell said in his order.
Lamar County School District remained in the suit due to Boyd’s deliberate indifference after the family reported their concerns, according to Treadwell’s order.
