Suit Filed In Alleged Kindergarten Sex Assault

AUSTIN, Texas -- Two parents claim school administrators didn't do enough to protect their daughters from sexual assault by a kindergarten classmate at an Austin-area school district.

The parents are suing the Eanes Independent School District and Valley View Elementary School Principal Jennifer Dusek. The federal suit seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The lawsuit claimed that both girls, who were about 5 years old at the time, were subjected to repeated sexual abuse at school by a third kindergarten girl for months starting in the fall of 2005.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that in February one child told her mother about the alleged sexual abuse. The other child's mother reportedly found out about the alleged incidents in May from the other child's mother.

The parents claim their daughters are victims of sexual discrimination under the Title Nine gender-equity law. The lawsuit accused the district of treating the allegations less seriously than they would have if a male student was involved.

Eanes Superintendent Nola Wellman denied the allegations. She said in a statement that administrators took "immediate and appropriate action" to deal with the assault claims.

"Eanes ISD plans to vigorously defend the district's actions and policies through the legal process," Wellman said. "EISD officials disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit and deny that the district acted with deliberate indifference to its students' needs."

The parents claim that the principal failed to protect their daughters from frequent contact with the alleged abuser and that it allowed several incidents to occur because they did not inform parents or the classroom teacher about the accusations. The listed incidents included stalking and harassment. Because the parents and teacher weren't notified, the students were not separated, the suit claims.

The lawsuit claims that the allegedly abusive girl's mother warned the principal at the beginning of the school year that her child, who was a victim of sexual abuse, might be a threat to other children.

The suit claimed that the children were usually abused during nap time, but also said that at least two incidents of abuse occurred under a picnic table on a school playground, the paper reported.

The suit is seeking unspecified monetary damages.