Justice Department sides with 14-year-old girl raped while serving as 'bait' in middle school sting

[cali]

this story is mind boggling.

The federal government today sided with the guardian of a teenage girl who was raped during a botched sting operation in the boy's bathroom, arguing the Madison County School system was liable under federal law to investigate harassment and protect female students.

"A school board cannot avoid summary judgment as a matter of law when a school administrator willfully ignores a plan to use a 14-year-old special needs student as bait to catch a student with a known history of sexual and violent misconduct, and as a result, the student is sodomized," reads the federal brief filed in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals late today.

The U.S. Department of Justice argues administrators at Sparkman Middle School near Huntsville knew the boy was dangerous and showed "deliberate indifference."

"According to Principal (Ronnie) Blair," reads today's brief, "June Simpson, a teacher's aide, reported that for several weeks, (a 16-year-old boy) had repeatedly been trying to get girls into the boys' bathroom and in fact had sex with a student in the bathroom on the special needs students' corridor."

Blair rejected the aide's recommendation that the boy be constantly watched, "and told Simpson that (the boy) could not be punished because he had not been 'caught in the act,' short-hand for the school's policy that students could not be disciplined without substantiation of student-on-student misconduct."

The brief states the teaching assistant then devised a plan to use the girl as bait.

<snip>

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/feds_side_with_14-year-old_gir.html

More:

<snip>

Blair and the two assistant principals were named in the lawsuit because Simpson had told Dunaway about her plan beforehand.

"Simpson and (the girl) then went to Vice-Principal (Jeanne) Dunaway's office, where Simpson told Dunaway about her plan to use (the girl) as bait to catch (the boy)," the Justice Department brief states. "Dunaway did not respond with any advice or directive.

&quot The girl) left Dunaway's office, found (the boy) in the hallway, and agreed to meet him for sex. (The boy) told (the girl) to go to the sixth grade boys' bathroom and she complied. No teachers were in the bathroom to intervene, and (the boy) sodomized (the girl)."

<snip>

The brief also points out that administrators minimized the assault after the fact by listing it as "inappropriate touching" in the boy's file. The federal attorneys note that one assistant principal, upon seeing photos of the injuries, contended that school officials could not know if the sex had been non-consensual.

"Vice-Principal Dunaway testified that (the girl) was responsible for herself once she entered the bathroom," the brief states.

The National Women's Law Center also on Thursday filed a brief supporting the 14-year-old victim, who left the school district after the rape and now lives in another state. In a press release issued today, the law center cited the "outrageous response" by the Madison County Board of Education and school officials.

<snip>

http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/index.ssf/2014/09/sparkman_middle_rape_case.html

[seabeyond]

1. thank you. i had not heard about this case. nt

[mythology]

2. The adults in this are absolute idiots at best

How in the blue hell did anybody think this was an acceptable plan?

[MineralMan]

3. Everyone involved in letting that student be "bait"

should serve prison terms. It is just that simple. They took advantage of a child who had special needs issues and subjected her to being sodomized. They are culpable and should be prosecuted. Shameful!

[cali]

8. yes. but far from being prosecuted, they are still in their positions.

why they haven't been prosecuted is unclear. and why the boy wasn't prosecuted is also unclear.

[MineralMan]

10. Yes, well. It's up to the citizens of that place to rise up

and insist. I don't live there. Where are the rest of the parents of children in that school?

[Jackpine Radical]

23. I think it could be a Federal case.

They clearly violated her civil rights. That was the sort of charge the Feds used when they went into the segregated South to redress some of the wrongs of the southern courts that refused to convict whites for heinous offenses against blacks. The Feds could get involved here too if they wanted to.

[rhett o rick]

31. Most likely everyone involved will suffer in some way except the boy.

If she gave her permission and he is underage, and it might be entrapment, most likely the boy will get off and his record will be sealed.

The adults involved have to be charged with criminal acts and the girls parents should sue.

[Dorian Gray]

22. No kidding

the whole thing is sickening and shameful. They are supposed to protect the children they teach, not use them as "bait." And then when they are sodomized, throw them to the wolves? Horrific.

[Louisiana1976]

27. Right on!

[freshwest]

36. +1,000

[riderinthestorm]

4. Despicable. Just sheer contempt for the fools who thought this was a good plan.

[Glassunion]

5. I am so sick of this place...

How the fuck do we live in a world where a school board will punish students for sharing a fucking burrito at lunch with another student, yet it is somehow appropriate for a school board to use a 14 year old special needs student as fucking rape-bait?

I cannot express my fury.

[Louisiana1976]

28. Agree wholeheartedly. It's disgusting.

[Octafish]

6. Alabama GOP is from where US Attorney Child Predator hailed.

Roy Atchison: On the Paper Trail of a Paedophile

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Margie Burns

This blog entry is the first of a series of articles on John David Roy Atchison. Atchison, anAssistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Florida, Pensacola office, was arrested in September 2007 on charges relating to pedophilia. He committed suicide in federal prison in October 2007. Arrest and suicide were not foregrounded by the Department of Justice in the Bush administration. The first articles, based largely on FBI material obtained under FOIA, will focus on the criminal acts and their context in 2007 in the Pensacola office.

This is not the story of a man who engaged in pedophilia for years or decades before being caught. It is the story of a man whipsawed by the strain of living up to a high-achieving family rooted in Birmingham, Ala., whose high-functioning connections assisted him for years in developing a career for which he turned out not to be suited. On Sept. 16, 2007, Assistant U.S. Attorney John David Roy Atchison, serving as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Florida, was arrested on credible charges of basically pedophilia. Atchison committed suicide in federal prison Oct. 5.

A dead pedophile might not sound like a tragedy. But Atchison was thought to be participating in a pedophile ring, and his death removed a useful informant from law enforcement resources. The question of how he was enabled to kill himself rather than being preserved for justice is one of the loose ends left hanging in his case. This article series will look at the case itself, at how Atchison attained his federal career, and at the easy prison suicide in 2007.

The legal case begins in August 2007, when an officer identified only as part of the Detroit Deputized Cyber Task Force, posing online as a divorced mother of two small children, was Instant Messengered by Yahoo! Member “fldaddy04.” As the Federal Bureau of Investigation notes, when the TFO added the user to her buddy list, the name “John Davidson” replaced “fldaddy04.” By Sept. 12, the FBI had determined that ‘Davidson” was actually Atchison, married since 1983, who lived with his wife, a high school teacher and cheerleading coach, in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and was president of the Gulf Breeze Sports Association as well as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

CONTINUED...

http://www.margieburns.com/2010/09/roy-atchison-on-the-paper-trail-of-a-pedophile-part-1/

Just-Us.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. Childism should be a crime. nt

[LakeVermilion]

9. And this is one of Alabama's premier school districts!

According to voting records, Madison and Huntsville are the progressive voting areas in Alabama.

Local action should be taken in this case. This case can be no less child abuse that the Adrian Peterson affair.

[cali]

13. according to what voting records? Madison County voted overwhelmingly for Romney in 2012

Progressive? Hardly.

Madison County is represented by Mo Brooks in the House. He's a republican wingnut.

[happyslug]

20. The old joke about what is a Southern Liberal comes to mind....

A Southern Liberal was someone who believes African Americans have rights, but every white man should own four of them....

It is an old joke, but has a bit of truth in it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. Was a parent's consent form involved?

Call me naive but I doubt it.

Presumably, a 14 year old girl and 16 year old boy, both (presumably) Special Needs students are set up to go alone to the boys' bathroom. What could go wrong?

[LittleBlue]

12. Couldn't make it past the second paragraph

How could anyone think this was a good idea? No. Just no.

[hifiguy]

14. ?!?!

Sounds like a few school admins need a vacation in the Big House.

[ZombieHorde]

15. I have read this several times.

I just keep thinking I must be misreading this story. It seems crazy to me.

[cali]

16. Yes it's crazy. beyond that it's sick and depraved. There's also a lot of evidence that it's fact.

[Agschmid]

17. Right there with you.

[Blue_Tires]

19. Shit like this makes you lose faith in humanity...

[freshwest]

37. I'm not surprised at what they did. Seen too much of this shit.

[joeybee12]

18. This is horrific beyond belief...everyone at the school who played a role,

however minor, needs to be in jail.

[freshwest]

39. Yes, but instead, this is what happened:

Last edited Tue Sep 23, 2014, 12:13 PM - Edit history (1)

There Are So Many Things Wrong With This Alabama Middle School Rape Case

...No one was fired as a result of the incident, which left the victim traumatized. No criminal charges were filed against school officials or the assailant. In fact, as Gawker reports, an assistant principal who knew of the plan was promoted to principal at a nearby school district despite failing to prevent the incident. The teacher's aide who originally proposed the sting was put on leave and later resigned...

It gets worse, according to CNN: "Vice Principal Dunaway testified that the girl was responsible for herself once she entered the bathroom, according the brief... Federal attorneys say details about the severity of the [boy's previous attacks] are unavailable because school administrators shredded the boy's disciplinary files..."

"It's a sad situation," Principal Ronnie Blair told media in 2010. "At the same time, I feel very comfortable with the way the situation was handled. That's about all I can say."

In other words, despite orchestrating the entire incident and then shredding relevant records after the fact, everyone involved in creating the situation that led to the rape is insisting that it was not their fault but the unidentified victim's. Other than being textbook victim-blaming, the Department of Justice argues that the district's "deliberate indifference to known acts of peer sexual harassment" constitutes a violation of Title IX. Hopefully the district and its callous, irresponsible administrators will be held responsible for their horrific judgement, but the damage they've inflicted on the victim can never be undone...

And more at this link:

http://mic.com/articles/99464/there-are-so-many-things-wrong-with-this-alabama-middle-school-rape-case

A few points:

At 14 years old, she is a minor, legally unable to decide to play bait. Her parents/guardians were not informed of this scheme and it's unlikely they would approve of putting her in danger this way. She was incapable of consent herself.

As a special needs child, she is unlikely to have the maturity of a 14 year old. In fact, many are not considered able to make such decisions even after they reach the age of 18. Dependent on level of disability, some fall under the statues of vulnerable adults and require a guardian for the rest of their lives in order to protect them.

The school is legally responsible as custodian of all students and their safety while on school property, or activities run by the school. Example is if a football player is injured, the school must pay for his care.

Dependent on state, county, city and district, policies vary. Funding for special education is on the chopping block and administrators and state legislators try to cut funds for them in every way. Some school districts resent having to have special needs students, and a number of them, even in wealthy areas, refuse to accept them as students.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as to what happens to special needs students and vulnerable adults. Some police departments scapegoat innocent disabled persons to clear up their case loads. The person does not understand the danger of making or signing statements to please authorities and some have been sent to prison for murders they did not commit when they promised them they could go home if they signed confessions that they could not read.

Special needs kids and vulnerable adults are the least likely to be given fair treatment or to be believed, are often unable to explain what has happened, and the subject of more sexual, financial and physical abuse than almost any other group.

And this is worldwide, except in tiny oasises in which good people seek to protect them.

[joeybee12]

40. Absolutely sickening...nt

[valerief]

21. The adults who knew of this and let it happen should be in prison. nt

[irisblue]

24. WHAT THE HELL?

what kind of an asshole thinks it is okay to use a child as "bait"?!

[cstanleytech]

26. "what kind of an asshole thinks it is okay to use a child as "bait"?!" June Simpson.

[951-Riverside]

25. Here's a pile of taxpayer money now go clean yourself up...

FUCK THIS!

I'VE FUCKING HAD IT WITH COPS NEVER BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE WHEN THEY SHOOT AN UNARMED PERSON, NFL PLAYERS NEVER BEING HELD ACCOUNTABLE WHEN THEY BEAT WOMEN (EVEN WHEN ITS ON GOD DAMN FUCKING VIDEO) AND NOW SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS USE A FUCKING GOD DAMN 14 YEAR OLD DISABLED GIRL TO BAIT A RAPIST AND ALL THE DOJ CAN FUCKING DO IS SAY "WE SIDE WITH THE GIRL"?

FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE ASSHOLES NEED TO BE PUT IN PRISON BUT THEY WONT!!!!!

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!??!!!

[Louisiana1976]

29. Yes. They should be locked up and the key thrown away.

[Ilsa]

30. Vice-Principal Dunaway said a disabled child is "responsible for

herself"? What the Fuck! She is a minor, and a disabled one at that! She should be fired for having so little knowledge about disabled children!

[AZ Progressive]

32. The Neanderthals of the South strike again

Sad but not surprising story.

Human Development Index map of the U.S.:

[Sheldon Cooper]

33. I work in the disabilities field, albeit not education.

But the basic question remains the same: what in the actual fuck were they thinking??? Jesus christ I can't imagine the thought process that went into the scheme. Holy shit.

[Lancero]

34. Given the circumstances, I really doubt that this was a sting...

Sounds more like the school decided to give him a new victim and now that people know about it they are trying to cover their asses.

I have to wonder - Was the boy involved in any kind of sports?

[ncjustice80]

35. Wow Rethuglican rape enablers strike again. So sad.

[davidpdx]

38. Thank for the update on this one

I read about it for the first time the other day. The adults and the boy still need to be held criminally responsible for this.