CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County woman says her teenage daughter was sexually harassed by a fellow Horace Mann Middle School student.
Amy Ware, as parent of a girl identified only as M.S., filed her complaint January 6 in Kanawha Circuit Court against the Kanawha County Board of Education.
According to the complaint, the girl was an eighth-grade student at HMMS during the 2021-2022 school year. It says the girl was repeatedly sexually harassed by a student identified as C.C. from November 2021 to January 3, 2022.
Michael Cary
| Courtesy photo
She says her daughter reported the sexual harassment and abuse to school staff on several occasions. She says C.C.’s physical and verbal abuse included sexual touching the girl’s breasts and buttocks as well as making inappropriate comments toward the girl.
Ware says the board repeatedly subjected her daughter to sexual harassment, threats and even ridicule by C.C. even after the abuse had been reported by both her and her daughter.
The complaint says the school board ignored the girl’s allegations on multiple occasions “due to the color of her skin.”
“Admitting that you have a problem is the first step,” attorney Michael Cary told The West Virginia Record. “But this is a systematic issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
“The Kanawha County Board of Education needs to step up and do what is right to protect our children.”
Ware accuses the board of negligence, negligent supervision and hiring, negligent infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and unlawful discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
She seeks compensatory, punitive, consequential and other damages for injuries, inconvenience and annoyance as well as pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Ware is being represented by Cary of Cary Law Office in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carrie Webster.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-7