Livingston Manor school district, superintendent sued over girl's alleged sexual assault

A lawsuit claims that a 14-year-old boy in the Livingston Manor school district sexually assaulted a 7-year-old girl when he was allowed to escort her to a speech therapy class, which he also attended, without adult supervision.

The alleged assaults, which involved the touching of genital areas, happened on at least four occasions in January, according to the lawsuit, filed earlier this month in State Supreme Court in Sullivan County.

The lawsuit says the school district and its superintendent, John Evans, were negligent in allowing the two to be close to each other. The alleged assaults also happened within 10 feet of the speech therapist, who was not warned of this student's past behavior, the suit says. The boy also is named as a defendant "by his mother and natural guardian," although he is only identified by initials, as is the 7-year-old plaintiff.

The lawsuit claims that Evans and the district were aware that the boy had previously been accused of sexually assaulting at least three other female minors at the school. The boy was allowed to escort the girl to the speech therapy class without getting the permission and consent of the girl's parents, the lawsuit said.

"The defendant School District and John Evans knew or should have known that it was dangerous, negligent and reckless to allow the defendant 14-year-old male to escort to class and play with the 7-year-old female infant plaintiff," according to the lawsuit.

Evans and the district also "failed to warn the speech therapist of the known history of the defendant...being accused of assaulting or engaging in inappropriate behavior with other female students," the document said.

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The lawsuit also put some blame on other district employees, saying that the district "negligently hired, retained and supervised its teachers, staff, principals and employees."

As a result of the assaults, the girl's mother was forced to spend money for her medical and psychological treatment, the lawsuit said. In addition to losing time from school and extracurricular activities, the girl also suffered a loss of quality of life, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks judgments for unspecified amounts of money, including punitive damages, against all the defendants.

Evans issued the following statement: "As this is ongoing litigation, I am unable to comment at this time. The district will share information as appropriate as the litigation progresses."

The boy's mother could not be reached for comment.

Brett J. Nomberg, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said once the defendants have responded to the lawsuit, it will proceed to the discovery process, and eventually could be tried by a jury if a settlement is not reached first.