Sexual abuse lawsuit involving Howard Middle student sent back to Bibb County court
.jpg "Howard Middle School sexual assault suit involving Cedric Goolsby sent back to Bibb County Superior Court. Federal claims dropped, state claims remain pending.")
Lack of evidence to support federal claims in a Howard Middle School sexual abuse lawsuit led to a judge remanding the case back to Bibb County Superior Court.
Attorneys representing the Bibb County School District and the family of the victim — who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Cedric Ray Goolsby, 59, a former paraprofessional at Howard Middle School — argued in a hearing Thursday whether federal claims in the case should be dismissed.
The lawsuit alleged Goolsby sexually assaulted a 13-year-old student with disabilities on Feb. 16 and Feb. 23 in 2023, according to court proceedings. The student’s family, who filed the lawsuit against Goolsby, the Bibb County School District and its employees, argued the parties were liable for the incidents under Title IX, which prohibits sexual discrimination.
The alleged actions by Goolsby and the Bibb County School District also deprived the student’s rights while “pretending to act in the performance of his/her official duties,” according to the family’s complaint and Georgia law.
However, based on the limited evidence the school district could legally provide to the family’s attorney, Judge Marc Treadwell ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to support the claims.
Claims related to the Bibb County School District’s liability under state law are still pending, so Treadwell remanded the case back to Bibb County Superior Court for a ruling.
Goolsby was charged with child molestation, false imprisonment and sexual assault by teacher charges in 2023, according to the Bibb County Jail’s inmate search.
What did the complaint argue?
The student was in a special needs program due to having cerebral palsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Goolsby sexually abused the student on Feb. 16 and Feb. 23 in 2023, according to court records and the attorneys during Thursday’s hearing.
The first incident, on Feb. 16, 2023, went unnoticed by staff and other students. They were only notified of the reported assault on Feb. 23, 2023, when an employee caught Goolsby sexually abusing the student, according to court records.
Goolsby was arrested and terminated from his job at Howard Middle School after the Feb. 23 incident.
School district employees were accused of negligently hiring Goolsby because he did not have a valid state license, which is typically issued to paraprofessionals. He also had a criminal history and hadn’t been approved by the school board’s human resources committee before being hired. The employees were also accused of not supervising or training Goolsby, according to the lawsuit. Those claims are based on state law.
The student’s family also alleged the student’s rights were violated under Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities. They further argued that her rights were deprived under Section 1983, which allows individuals to sue local officials for violating constitutional rights while pretending to act within their official duties, according to the lawsuit.
They also claimed the incidents were violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against an individual with a disability. That claim was dismissed Thursday, according to court records.
Bibb County School Superintendent Dan Sims was named in the lawsuit, along with board of education members Thelma Dillard, Lisa Garrett-Boyd, Kristin Hanlon, Myrtice Johnson, Juawn Jackson, Sundra Woodford, James Freeman and Daryl Morton.
Anthony Jones, the principal of Howard Middle School, was sued in his capacity as leader of the school, including overall governance like personnel hiring criteria. Several other employees of Howard Middle School also were sued.
Why Treadwell dismissed the federal claims
Attorney Brandon Moulard, who represented the school district, said his client condemned Goolsby’s actions. However, there is a “gap between wrongdoing and liability,” he said during the hearing Thursday.
For the Title IX claims to proceed, attorney Jesse Mitchell III, who represented the student’s family, had to prove that the student was sexually harassed or abused, that the district was notified of the abuse and that they were deliberately indifferent. For the Section 1983 claim to proceed, he had to prove that Goolsby was abusing his position as a paraprofessional, that his actions violated particular laws under the U.S. Constitution and whether Goolsby’s conduct was the actual cause of the injury.
Moulard said that, while Goolsby allegedly sexually assaulted the student on two occasions, Mitchell couldn’t prove the Bibb County School District knew of the assault and acted deliberately indifferent. Thus, he argued, the Title IX claim failed.
Mitchell claimed that under Section 1983, the victim’s rights were violated under the 14th Amendment and Title IX, as the child has a right to not be sexually assaulted by an employee. He also argued that, despite the hiring policy specifying that paraprofessionals should have a certificate, Goolsby didn’t have one. He also had a lengthy criminal record.
Mitchell said Goolsby shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
The two incidents were due to the Bibb County School District’s lack of effective measures to prevent and address sexual assault, he said, causing a widespread “custom of permissibility” as a result, according to court records.
However, Moulard said that the Section 1983 claim could not proceed, as a one-time faulty hiring isn’t enough to support the federal claim. He also said there were not enough sexual abuse incidents under the school district to support the claim.
In the end, Treadwell agreed with Moulard.
Federal claims could be raised again
Evidence in the case was limited because of Bibb County School District’s responsibility to protect certain information, Mitchell told Treadwell Thursday.
Mitchell was allowed to see surveillance footage of the alleged incidents only once, he said. Two of the videos were more than three hours long and included multiple camera angels.
The footage was graphic enough to cause Mitchell to “get up and walk out,” he said.
The judge said Mitchell did the best he could with the evidence he had. If Mitchell is able to provide more evidence later of alleged federal violations, the claims could be brought back to federal court.
