CHARLESTON – A Raleigh County woman says her former Logan High School band director sexually assaulted her when she was a student.
Elizabeth Vestal filed her complaint October 5 in Kanawha Circuit Court against the Logan County Board of Education and Brandon Willard, who lives in Kanawha County. A Brandon Willard is listed as the music teacher at John Adams Middle School in the South Hills section of Charleston. He also ran for a seat on Charleston City Council in 2018.
“Willard’s relentless pursuit of Elizabeth for his own sexual gratification turned Elizabeth’s high school years into a nightmare,” the complaint states. “A 16-year-old student cannot consent to sex with her adult teacher/band director.”
Toriseva
In a statement to The West Virginia Record, Willard denied Vestal's claims.
"These allegations are a complete and total fabrication," he said. "They are absolutely not true. These shocking and false allegations date back almost 20 years to when I was in my first job out of college.
"I will most certainly defend against these claims and am confident I will be vindicated."
According to the complaint, Vestal attended Logan High School where Willard was the band teacher and band director. She says the first sexual assault occurred during her sophomore year in May 2003 when she was 16 years old.
“On a spring day during Elizabeth’s sophomore year, Elizabeth was called into defendant Willard’s soundproof office at Logan High School,” the complaint says. “Willard persuaded Elizabeth into his office telling her he wanted to play a game similar to college initiations.
“The object of this game was for defendant Willard to discuss Elizabeth’s breasts. When Elizabeth refused to play the ‘game,’ defendant Willard taunted her and told her that she wasn’t ready for college.”
A week later, she says he asked her to play the game again.
“Willard continued to pressure her saying things such as, ‘It’s just me, I’d never hurt you,’ ‘Don’t be shy. I’m just trying to prepare you,’” the complaint states. “Once Elizabeth finally gave into his pressure, she recalls a flushed feeling to her face, and an increased heart rate, she remembers that she felt sick to her stomach and wanted to run from the room. …
“Willard then told Elizabeth that she had ‘a nice ass and if I wasn’t your teacher, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off of you.’”
Another time, she says Willard told her it was time for a “touch test.”
“Elizabeth was unsure what defendant Willard meant until he had her walk around his desk where defendant Willard sat in his chair with his penis exposed through the zipper of his pants,” the complaint states. “Defendant Willard quickly took his hands and ran them up her shirt grabbing her breasts and squeezing painfully.”
In the summer of 2003 before her junior year, Vestal attended band camp at Cedar Lakes in Ripley. She was the team leader of the color guard at band camp. On the second night of camp, she says Willard came to her cabin saying he needed to speak to her about color guard. She says Willard took her behind the cabin, accused her of being a tease and pressed her against the cabin with his body.
“Defendant Willard then placed his hands on Elizabeth’s buttocks, he then pulled Elizabeth’s shorts aside and proceeded to rub his fingers on the outside of her vagina,” Next, he took two fingers and digitally penetrated her.
“As this sexual assault continued, defendant Willard began to kiss and suck her breasts, he eventually dropped to one knee and continued to force his fingers into Elizabeth’s vagina.”
Then, according to the complaint, Willard forced Vestal to touch his penis by grabbing her wrist so hard it caused pain. He then forced her to masturbate him to orgasm.
“When the assault ended, Elizabeth remembers being humiliated and physically sick, trying to wipe the semen from her fingers in the grass outside of the cabin,” the complaint states. “Defendant Willard warned Elizabeth not to tell anyone as she would get in trouble and her parents would be humiliated as her father was a pastor.”
During summer band practice, Vestal says Willard would follow her to the soundproof storage room when he could, block the exit and make comments to her about her appearance.
“Willard would tell Elizabeth that she was ‘too old fashioned’ and that she needed to start expecting to get this kind of attention if she were to be a varsity cheerleader,” the complaint states, adding he “would then pull down Elizabeth’s shorts and underwear.”
When she would try to cover herself, Vestal says Willard would taunt her and humiliate her “by asking her why she covered herself, didn’t she trust him, and that all he was doing was trying show how beautiful she is.”
Vestal says Willard grew more bold as the summer progressed. She says she began to think of the band room as a dungeon.
“While he started by only having Elizabeth stand naked in front of him, he eventually began to trap her naked body against the wall while he rubbed himself against her butt checks,” the complaint states. “Elizabeth, fearful of being raped, would plead with the Defendant begging him not put his penis inside of her.”
Vestal says she estimates Willard did that at least 15 times that summer. And, she says the abuse continued into the school year despite her attempts to avoid him. But, he created way to have time with her, such as one-on-one meetings with section leaders.
“Willard pulled his pants down exposing his penis and began to masturbate asking Elizabeth to do cheerleading stretches in front of him,” she says of the first such meeting. “Elizabeth attempted to explain (she) didn’t do those stretches.
“Elizabeth recalls that defendant Willard seemed angry by her response, and he forcefully grabbed her leg and forced it to go upward imitating a stretch. Grabbing her leg and forcing it upward caused Elizabeth extreme pain in her hip and leg. Elizabeth felt her hip socket ‘pop.’ Noticing her pain, defendant Willard warned Elizabeth not to lie to him again. …
“Willard then instructed Elizabeth to spread her feet apart and bend over and touch the floor so that Elizabeth was facing away from him. Defendant Willard then came up behind Elizabeth, grabbing her hips and began thrusting himself against her until ejaculation.”
Following this assault, Elizabeth remembers running to her car and crying for an hour. She says he also sodomized her with a drum stick during another meeting.
When Vestal turned 17 during her junior year, she says Willard blocked her in a room before forcefully grabbing her and placing her on a table.
“Willard forcefully held her down and removed her pants and underwear … then performed oral sex on Elizabeth and painfully digitally penetrated her vagina with multiple fingers despite Elizabeth asking him to stop several times,” the complaint states. “Following this assault, Elizabeth had a panic attack, she felt like she was going to pass out. Elizabeth sat on the concrete floor trying to compose herself to leave the storage room.”
Later in the school year, Vestal had an emergency appendectomy. Willard was among the people from school who visited her. When she was back at school, he told Vestal “everyone thinks he is such a great man. This caused Elizabeth to believe that defendant Willard felt he was invincible and could get away with anything.”
In May 2004, Vestal tried out for drum major. During a meeting with Willard, she says he told her the job was hers if she performed oral sex on him. She refused, and Willard gave the position normally held by a senior to a junior.
During the last week of her junior year, Vestal says Willard again trapped her in a storage room, forced her to her knees and forced her to perform oral sex on him until he orgasmed.
During her senior year band camp again at Cedar Lakes, Vestal says Willard digitally penetrated her as well as kissed and sucked on her breasts.
She says the assaults continued during her senior year of school as well. It included summoning her to his office and making her masturbate him while he touched her breasts and vagina.
At a home basketball game in March 2005, Vestal says her then boyfriend – and current husband – was at the game. She says that made Willard “angry and jealous,” and he followed her when she went to get water for the other team.
“Willard grabbed her from behind in the dark,” the complaint states. “Defendant Willard forcibly pulled Elizabeth’s cheering outfit down, pulled off her underwear and raped Elizabeth, ejaculating on her back as he finished.”
Her husband says he remembers her demeanor and attitude toward him changed after that game. She says she became extremely depressed and contemplated suicide.
The next month on a band trip to Walt Disney World, Vestal says she woke on the bus to Willard touching her breasts. Later on the trip, she says he forced her to masturbate him and touched her vagina while in a hotel hot tub.
“At the end of her senior year, on the night awards were given, Elizabeth was confronted by defendant Willard in his office,” the complaint states. “When Elizabeth protested, defendant Willard grabbed her by throat and told her if ‘she ever told anyone, he would ruin her.’
“As time passed, Elizabeth believed that if she ever told anyone about the assaults, Defendant Willard would kill her.”
In the summer of 2005 before college, Vestal worked band camp and mostly avoided Willard until the night before she was leaving.
“Willard entered her room and forcibly raped Elizabeth, holding her down and strangling her with his hands to the point that Elizabeth lost consciousness,” the complaint states. “When Elizabeth gained consciousness, she went and took a scalding hot shower and sat crying on the shower floor.”
When Vestal went to college at Lee University in Tennessee, Willard resigned from Logan High School and was hired at the University of Charleston.
Soon, she says Willard called her mother to offer Vestal a scholarship and job as his office assistant. She says her parents began to pressure her to attend UC. That’s when she says she told her mother and sister everything that happened with Willard.
“Elizabeth is now 34 years old and lives everyday with the memories of the vicious attacks by defendant Willard,” the complaint states. “Willard is still teaching, now as a middle school band director.”
Vestal accuses the defendants of sexual intercourse with a child under their care, sexual assault and harassment at school and school-related events, intentional infliction of emotional distress, sexual battery, false imprisonment, first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust to a child. She also says Willard is guilty of a felony.
Vestal says she suffered personal injuries and damages, including but not limited to past and future pain, suffering and mental anguish, past and future lost enjoyment of life, past and future humiliation, embarrassment, indignity and shame, economic damages, diminished earning capacity and future lost wages.
She seeks compensatory damages for her special and general injuries, permanent physical injuries, past and future pain, suffering and mental anguish, past and future lost enjoyment of life, past and future humiliation, embarrassment, indignity, shame, and economic damages, diminished earning capacity, and future lost wages, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Vestal is being represented by Teresa Toriseva, Joshua Miller and Michael Kuhn of Toriseva Law in Wheeling. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 22-C-836