Current:Home > ScamsVirginia school system says ongoing claim of sex assaults on school grounds was fabricated-InfoLens
Virginia school system says ongoing claim of sex assaults on school grounds was fabricated
View Date:2024-12-23 15:32:44
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Allegations that a northern Virginia seventh-grader was repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted at her school more than a decade ago were totally fabricated, lawyers for the school system contend in a court filing seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit she filed.
The onetime student, who is now 24, stands by her claims.
The allegations surfaced in 2011 and have been the subject of legal proceedings for more than a decade, including a lawsuit the onetime student first filed against the school district in 2019. They were also the basis for a 2014 settlement that Fairfax County Public Schools — the state’s largest school system — reached with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights over accusations the district failed to adequately investigate the student’s complaint.
In a motion filed late Wednesday in federal court in Alexandria, though, the school system’s lawyers ask that the former student’s lawsuit be dismissed as a “fraud upon the court.”
The lawyers say they uncovered Facebook posts between the then-12-year-old girl and a classmate alleged to be one of her principal attackers. They say the messages show that the two were actually boyfriend and girlfriend and that the girl had sought out sexual contact with him during a period of time in which she alleged he had been raping and threatening her.
“It is now crystal clear that the entire case has been litigated on false premises,” the lawyers wrote.
The lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial in March, is one of several cases the school system has battled in recent years, racking up millions in legal fees.
The cases, and similar accusations in neighboring Loudoun County, have drawn scrutiny, as Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has faulted local school systems for their handling of sexual assault accusations.
In the Fairfax County case, the girl, who is now 24., said in a letter to the court that she believes the recently discovered Facebook posts are irrelevant and were possibly inauthentic. She said the messages purportedly sent by her came from an account identified only as “Facebook User,” that they “look highly suspicious” and that she doesn’t remember sending them.
She also says that even if she did send them, her attacker forced her to send messages like that to cover up the fact that she was being abused.
“He would make me text him all the time so that I would look like his girlfriend, she wrote.
The chats — excerpts of which are included in the school system’s filing — are explicit. They continued through Nov. 21, 2011, when the boy told the accuser he was breaking up with her. The next day is when the accuser and her mother met with school officials to make her first complaint, according to the school system’s lawyers.
The accuser has complained throughout the lawsuit that the school system has been unduly aggressive in its defense.
The school system, for its part, says the accuser’s story has evolved. In her very first written complaint in 2011 she wrote that her tormentors “harass me, tease me, and give me seductive looks” and that one left a vulgar voicemail.
By the time she filed her second amended complaint in 2022, she alleged that she had been gang-raped multiple times in a school closet.
The accuser has said in court papers that as a 12-year-old, she initially lacked the vocabulary to describe what was happening to her.
In 2012, the accuser’s mother filed a police report and an investigation occurred. There is no indication that criminal charges were filed, though many of the court records related to the police investigation have been redacted.
veryGood! (187)
Related
- Judge extends the time to indict the driver accused of killing Johnny Gaudreau and his brother
- Native Hawaiian salt makers combat climate change and pollution to protect a sacred tradition
- South Korean opposition leader is recovering well from surgery after stabbing attack, doctor says
- Jimmy Kimmel fires back at Aaron Rodgers after comment about release of names of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged associates
- Chrysler recalls over 200k Jeep, Dodge vehicles over antilock-brake system: See affected models
- South Carolina Senate to get 6th woman as former Columbia city council member wins special election
- Four children killed in a fire at a multifamily home in Connecticut
- Imam critically wounded in Newark mosque shooting, police say
- Rachael Ray Details Getting Bashed Over Decision to Not Have Kids
- Ford is recalling more than 112,000 F-150 trucks that could roll away while parked
Ranking
- Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio charged with operating vehicle while intoxicated
- RHOSLC's Monica Garcia Responds to Explosive Season Finale Scandal With Nod to Gossip Girl
- Thousands of women stocked up on abortion pills, especially following news of restrictions
- Founding member of Mr. Bungle arrested after girlfriend's remains found in California woods
- Gerry Faust, the former head football coach at Notre Dame, has died at 89
- Older Americans say they feel trapped in Medicare Advantage plans
- Michigan state lawmaker enters crowded U.S. House race as Democrats aim to defend open seat
- What’s known, and what remains unclear, about the deadly explosions in Iran
Recommendation
-
NFL coaches diversity report 2024: Gains at head coach, setbacks at offensive coordinator
-
Outgoing Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards touts accomplishments in farewell address
-
Nevada judge attacked by defendant during sentencing in Vegas courtroom scene captured on video
-
New Mexico considers setback requirements for oil wells near schools and day care centers
-
Amazon launches an online discount storefront to better compete with Shein and Temu
-
Some overlooked good news from 2023: Six countries knock out 'neglected' diseases
-
Beyoncé breaks the internet again: All 5 Destiny's Child members reunite in epic photo
-
Thousands of women stocked up on abortion pills, especially following news of restrictions