BLUEFIELD — A mentally impaired child and his mother are suing the Mercer County Board of Education, claiming gross negligence and reckless indifference in connection with alleged sex acts committed in a school bathroom.
John Doe, a child, by and through his next friend M. Doe, filed a complaint Aug. 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Bluefield Division against the defendants, alleging that they breached their duty to monitor and supervise plaintiff John Doe while he was in their custody.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that on May 4, 2015, John Doe suffered harm when he was caught in a bathroom with John Smith, who also had mental impairments and who performed sex acts on the child plaintiff. The plaintiffs hold the school board responsible because the defendants allegedly created and increased the danger of the occurrence of the sex acts by directing plaintiff John Doe and John Smith to collect attendance sheet without any supervision.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment against the defendants for compensatory and punitive damages that will fairly compensate them for all the harms and losses they suffered, attorney's fees and costs and such other relief as is proper. They are represented by Kyle G. Lusk of Lusk & Bradford PLLC in Beckley.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Bluefield Division Case number 1:16-cv-08318
