PORTLAND, Ore. — Content warning: This article contains information about allegations of sexual abuse of a child and could be offensive or disturbing to some readers.
A family of a Portland Public Schools (PPS) student is suing the district, Oregon nonprofit Latino Network, and Multnomah County over failing to protect her from being sexually assaulted at age 9 by four fellow male students.
The family is seeking $9 million in damages for negligence, lack of oversight and failure to protect a vulnerable person from abuse, according to the lawsuit filed late last month in the Multnomah County Circuit Court.
When the student was in the third grade at Scott Elementary School in Northeast Portland in 2022, she was sexually assaulted several times during school hours and while at a county-led after-school program, the lawsuit states. This included unwanted touching of her genitals over her clothing by a classmate during class while being taught by a district educator.
In a separate incident in the same school year, another student tried to kiss the girl without her permission. According to the lawsuit, she then hit the student in the face, and both were suspended. After the incidents, staff at Scott Elementary School told the girl’s father that they intended to "issue a safety plan" for her.
Then, in a different incident within the same school year, two male classmates kissed the girl without her permission while they were at the after-school program, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Community Schools, jointly operated by the Latino Network on the elementary school grounds. Shortly afterwards, the two male students threatened the girl, instructing her to tell the after-school program staff that she needed to use the bathroom or else "they would find out where she lived," according to the lawsuit.
The students followed her to the bathroom, locked her in the stall, removed her pants and took turns sexually assaulting her as she protested. The girl tried to escape but both of her assaulters took turns blocking the stall door to prevent her from leaving, according to the lawsuit.
The father of one of the male students involved learned of the incident from their child and reported it to staff at Scott Elementary School. Instead of notifying police immediately, "PPS undertook their own internal investigation,” the lawsuit claims. PPS staff interviewed the girl without notifying her parents or legal guardians of the sexual assault.
In the following days, the girl's father learned of the sexual assault and contacted Scott Elementary School and district staff. He was told that the students involved in the incident would remain at school with a "safety plan" that included giving them and the girl separate lunch periods.
According to the lawsuit, the father transferred his daughter and her younger brother to a different PPS school, feeling that the school's "safety proposal and response was inadequate." The process took about a month and during that time the girl and her brother were out of school, while the students involved in the sexual assault remained in school with only a one-day suspension.
Six days after the assault, the girl's father took her to Legacy Randall Children's Emergency Department for an evaluation. He was then referred to CARES Northwest, a child abuse evaluation program, where practitioners hearing her story said that "the history provided was highly concerning for sexual abuse," the lawsuit states.
As a result of the sexual harassment and assault, the lawsuit says the girl has been suffering from trauma, pain, social anxiety, academic setback and post-traumatic stress.
"The district learned of these new allegations last week when we received the lawsuit, and we are investigating," PPS said in a statement. "We are mandatory reporters, meaning we must report any instance of possible child abuse and neglect to the Department of Human Services (DHS). Such reports to DHS are confidential. We take our responsibilities as mandatory reporters seriously and follow the law around reporting."
The Latino Network said in a statement that it became aware of the lawsuit on Tuesday.
"As a community-based organization committed to trauma-informed practices, this news is painful to our staff, our board, and the communities we serve," Latino Network said. "We take the allegations very seriously and are working with our legal representation to provide counsel to our organization."
Resources
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault and needs support, help is available.
You can contact the Sexual Assault Resource Center at 503-626-9100. They are located at 4900 Southwest Griffith Drive, Suite 135, in Beaverton, Oregon.
The Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or rainn.org. It is available 24/7.
