Suit: District failed to report allegations before assault

? Officials in a suburban Kansas City school district failed to report sexual assault allegations against a boy to law enforcement before he assaulted a girl at a suburban Kansas City middle school, according to a federal lawsuit.

The boy’s school records contain reports from three other female students about similar assaults, according to the suit filed Monday. But the suit says none of the reports were provided to authorities before the plaintiff’s daughter alleges that she was assaulted. The girl says the assault happened earlier this year in a study hall classroom at Westridge Middle School in the Shawnee Mission School District, The Kansas City Star reports.

She was “shocked and frightened” and “froze and was unable to immediately react,” according to the suit. The suit names several current and former school and district officials as defendants.

The district said in a statement that it hasn’t yet been served with legal documents in the case.

“We can say, without reservation, that the investigation determined these allegations have been deemed untrue and inaccurate,” district spokeswoman Erin Little said in a statement. “The district cannot comment any further, however we look forward to presenting the accurate information at the proper time and place.”

In Kansas, school employees are considered mandated reporters, required by law to report the suspected physical or sexual abuse of children. The failure to do so is a misdemeanor, which can result in a $1,000 fine or six months in jail.

The suit said the assault resulted in the boy being suspended from school for 10 days, although he was allowed to count non-school days during spring break toward the period of suspension. The girl had previously been suspended for an unrelated event and had not been allowed to do that, according to the suit.