Fifth Graders Post Lookout While 4 Students Have Sex in Classroom

[CrimsonTide4]

Boy in oral sex incident sues school district

By Tony Scotta, Macomb Daily Staff Writer March 12, 2003



The family of a St. Clair Shores student hopes to return their son to school after his suspension for taking part in an oral sex act while in class.

Mount Clemens attorney Robbie D. Lang has filed a lawsuit against the Lake Shore school district in hopes of getting his client, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Kennedy Middle School, back in classes. Lang said the boy was "victimized" Feb. 6 when a female student performed oral sex on him during a science class. **

The boy, a special education student, was suspended for the remainder of the school year, he said. CT4 says: BOTH HE and THE GIRL should have been suspended.

The girl involved was not implicated in the lawsuit. Lake Shore officials would not say whether the girl has been allowed to return to class, although some students said she has not returned.

The district had also initially suspended the teacher, a 9-year veteran, but has since cleared him of wrongdoing, arguing that the "wrong in this incident is the actions of the students," according to a letter sent home to parents in late February. The teacher, whose name was also not released, has since returned to teaching and had argued he was unaware of the incident at the time.

As many as 20 students were in class while the act was performed underneath a long laboratory table, St. Clair Shores police Detective Joe Mason said. Mason had stated that criminal charges involving the students would not be likely.

"It's absolutely absurd that this could happen in a classroom. For the school district to say it wasn't negligent is highly ridiculous," Lang said.

Lang particularly finds absurd the district's decision to compare the realization that the incident had occurred with the atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, in their letter to parents.

"Just like our country was shocked into awareness when, never-before acts of terrorism occurred in New York City, our district was shocked into awareness when middle school students engaged in indecent acts in the classroom," wrote Superintendent John Brackett and Kennedy Principal Paula Quintero in their Feb. 19 correspondence to parents about the incident.

Brackett and other top Lake Shore district officials were unavailable for comment Tuesday, said district spokeswoman May Mulla.

To combat a belief the sexual behavior is part of a greater "societal problem," based in part on adolescent exposure to the media, Internet, music videos, and movies, the district is encouraging parents to attend a March 18 forum at the school entitled "A Night With the Experts." The 7 p.m. program will include a discussion about those influences with a sexual abuse expert as well as media consultant Teresa Tomeo, who advocates higher moral standards for broadcasting.

But Lang said the notion others are to blame is too convenient.

He argues his client was statutorily raped, as minors cannot give consent under the law. In this instance, he believes the female may have performed oral sex on the boy as a dare, and although the boy didn't fight her off, he had no legal duty to do so.

Lang's lawsuit seeks at least $100,000 for damages stemming from district negligence, breach of duty, discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other claims.

The boy also suffered from a broken leg at the time and had his mobility hindered by a cast, he said. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"It certainly wasn't something that was planned," Lang said, arguing if a girl had been victimized, the district would have treated her better than his client.

Stacy Moss, whose daughter, Ashley Zimmerman, attends seventh grade at the school, agrees the boy should be allowed to return and lays a majority of the blame on the teacher.

"I hope he is allowed back," she said. "The teacher should have known what the students were doing at all times."

But district officials maintain the teacher did nothing wrong.

"He was working individually with students, while the remainder of the class worked at their desks," stated Brackett and Quintero in their Feb. 19 letter. "We also found that most of the other students in the class were unaware of the inappropriate behavior."


What do you think???