LOGAN – Eight lawsuits accuse a middle school gym teacher of sexually harassing students, including sending them lewd photos on social media.
The eight individual complaints, filed by parents and guardians on behalf of their children, were filed March 9 in Logan Circuit Court against Aaron Grant and the Logan County Board of Education. Grant was a physical education teacher at Logan Middle School.
“Our children go to school to learn, not to be preyed upon by perverts,” attorney Ben Salango told The West Virginia Record. “My clients have faith in the legal system and trust that justice will be served in the criminal system and in the civil system.”
According to the complaints, all of the incidents occurred during the first half of the 2022-23 school year.
In December, the 25-year-old Grant was arrested and charged with distribution and display of obscene matter to a minor after allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a middle school student via Snapchat. Court documents say Grant sent photos of himself in his underwear and sent messages saying middle school students “were not bad to look at” and “have nice booties in those leggings.”
The first complaint says Grant made inappropriate sexual comments and advances to a 14-year-old student during school, including saying she was “beautiful and hot,” telling her she had an amazing body, telling her he wanted “to f*ck her” on numerous occasions, calling her over and saying “never mind, I’ll get in trouble if I say that in school.” It says he also sent the girl nude photos of himself on Snapchat, including his penis, saying he was “teasing” her. The complaint includes other more graphic comments made by Grant to the girl.
The second complaint says Grant made sexually inappropriate and harassing comments to a 13-year-old student and sent lewd photos to her and others on Snapchat.
The third complaint says Grant made inappropriate sexual comments and advances to an 11-year-old student and sent photos of his genitals and others on Snapchat.
The fourth complaint says Grant made sexually inappropriate and harassing comments and advances to another 11-year-old student and sent her pictures of his penis on Snapchat.
The fifth complaint says Grant made inappropriate sexual comments and advances to a 14-year-old student, including telling her she looked good and was pretty and telling her how he masturbated and how long it would take him to orgasm. It says he also sent the girl lewd photos on Snapchat and told her she was not “the only one who could tease.”
The sixth complaint says Grant made inappropriate sexual comments and advances to another 14-year-old student, including telling her she was pretty, she had a nice body, she had a crush on him, saying “I can’t say that in school but I can say that outside of school,” telling her to wear certain clothing such as leggings, describing how he masturbates and how long it takes him to orgasms, telling her he wanted to have sex with her and sending her photos of his penis on Snapchat saying she was not the only one who can “tease.” The complaint includes other more graphic comments made by Grant to the girl.
The seventh complaint says Grant made inappropriate sexual comments and advances to another 14-year-old student, including telling her she had “hot perky boobs,” asking her for oral sex, talking about how he masturbates, telling her he has a big penis, calling her and other female students the “hottest girls” and telling her she should “stay naked” after she showered. It says he also sent the girl lewd photos on Snapchat including his erection under a blanket. It says he also told her to not tell anyone about the pictures he was sending and to change his name on Snapchat so no one would know it was him.
The eighth complaint says Grant made inappropriate sexual comments and advances to a 13-year-old student, including calling her cute and beautiful, telling her she looked good in leggings, saying she was his favorite student because she was good looking, telling her she had a good body, telling her he wanted to “smack her ass” during basketball and telling her he had a dream about her giving him oral sex in the locker room. It says Grant also sent her pictures of his penis on Snapchat. The complaint includes other more graphic comments Grant made to the girl.
Each of the complaints accuse the defendants of unlawful sexual harassment and discrimination in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act as well as negligent hiring, supervision and retention.
Each of the plaintiffs seek compensatory damages for all past and future economic and noneconomic damages, pre- and post-judgment interests, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Ben Salango and Kristina Salango of Salango Law in Charleston and by James D. Harwood of Harwood Legal in Logan.
Logan Circuit Court case numbers 23-C-32, 23-C-33, 23-C-34, 23-C-35, 23-C-36, 23-C-37, 23-C-39 and 23-C-39