The parents of a second-grade boy at Burris Laboratory School recently received a horrifying phone call explaining that their son had been sexually abused in the school bathrooms by his peers, reports Indystar.com. There are reported at least 11 incidents over a three-month period. The worst part about the incident is that when other students tried to tell their teacher that boys in the class were “doing things to other boys’ private parts” in the bathroom, the teacher told them to stop “tattling.”
The parents of the 8-year-old boy have filed suit against the school, which names defendants as the second-grade teacher; three boys that are said to be involved in the abuse; Ball State University, which operates Burris as a laboratory school; and the university’s board of trustees.
The suit alleges that due to “Burris and Ball State’s complete lack of supervision and institutional controls … (the 8-year-old victim ) was forced, on multiple occasions, to engage in explicit sex acts with other children and forced to perform oral sex on children his own age.”
The boys allegedly acted out scenes from porn videos downloaded on the school computers.
Ball State spokesman Tony Proudfoot denied the suit’s claims, reports NYDailyNews.com.
“The university will vigorously defend these unwarranted allegations,” Proudfood said. “Our commitment to the safety of students at Burris and the university are of paramount importance, and we fully expect the evidence to bear this out.”
School officials were apparently aware that one of the boys involved in the abuse, known as the “ring leader,” had been required to go to the bathroom alone at a previous school because of “innopropriate bathroom behavior.”
The parents asked that a jury determine the damages in the case.