A seventh grade special-education student in Missouri is suing the school district for their actions involving repeated rapes she was subjected to on school grounds.
Not only did the educators in the Republic School District not believe the girl’s cries of rape a few years ago, but they responded by reprimanding her for it and forcing her to fork over a hand-written apology to the alleged assailant, a fellow student. From there they went as far as to suspend the victim for the remainder of the school year, only for her to return the following season and be raped by the same boy again.The lawsuit makes claims that officials in the Republic, Missouri school had the girl pen and hand-deliver an apology after she accused the student of raping her. The official filing states that the girl "finally told school officials what they wanted to hear because they wouldn't believe her," eventually retracting her rape allegation. Her parents were never approached about the letter and, following her expulsion and eventual reinstatement in the school, the girl’s mother says that educators refused her plea for extra monitoring of her daughter.In the suit, the plaintiff alleges that the school neglected to reexamine the girl’s file in which it explicitly states that she is “conflict adverse, behaviorally passive and ‘would forego her own needs and wishes to satisfy the request of others around so she can be accepted.’”In response to allegations that they are at fault, the Republic School District has called the suit “frivolous” and “unfounded.” This retort is despite hard evidence and a court case in which it was confirmed that the girl was raped at least once on school property.The initial rape occurred during the 2008-2009 school year, which the girl finished from home. In February 2010, however, the lawsuit alleges that she was raped by the same student again in the school’s library. That time the girl was too troubled to report the incident, fearing that she would be reprimanded once again for lying.Thankfully the girl’s mother brought her into the Child Advocacy Center for an examination, which at that point concluded that semen found on the victim was a match with DNA of the boy she accused of the rape. Only then was the boy brought to juvenile court, where he entered a plea of guilty.Not before, of course, the girl was suspended for a second time. That time around the school said that she expressed disrespectful conduct and a public display of affection.Who knew repeated rapes perpetrated on a special needs child could be affectionate?If the school’s response seems preposterous, it should be kept in mind that this is the same school district just outside of Springfield, MO that had ordered copies of Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five out of its libraries last month for contradicting the Bible.The school district has not offered much comment on the case, but says the student is at fault because she "neglected to use reasonable means to protect herself."