Huntsville School District Facing Sexual Assault Related Lawsuits

Two lawsuits have been filed against the Huntsville School District over alleged sexual assaults.

Joey McCutchen is an lawyer representing one of the parents of a victim of the abuse; the alleged assaults happened “between students on sports teams and the school board's failure to report or take proper disciplinary action against the perpetrators,” according to a post on Around The Table’s Facebook Page. The post also mentions a failure on the part of the school board to report or discipline the alleged abusers. “The practice known as "baptizing" or "bean-dipping" is done by a student putting his genitals on the face or in the mouth of another student in restraint. This practice has allegedly taken place for months or years on both the middle school and high school basketball teams.”

McCutchen spoke with KHOZ’s Around The Table on Thursday about these incidents. He said it came to light in February of this year but has been happening for a year to two years. “I think the reason the school district has been sued is because they had knowledge of it and didn’t stop it, didn’t report it,” McCutchen said. There may be others who join the suit against the school.

“Several months ago we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, and we’ve recently amended that.” In the first FOIA lawsuit, McCutchen said the school admitted to not giving notice to the media regarding a disciplinary hearing. “They also failed to record the open meeting which they were required to do under FOIA.” McCutchen added that the school district said they recorded it but they did not keep the recording. That is a FOIA violation. The lawsuit has been amended to include the school district’s recently discovered FIOA violations.

“It’s my opinion they’re trying to sweep it under the rug,” McCutchen said when discussing the school board’s reaction to questions from parents. He said he thinks “there has been multiple conflicts of interests” because of the school board and that parents of these perpetrators work within the school district. When perpetrators have previously been punished, McCutchen said they have received minimal punishment. Some students who restrained victims and those who assaulted victims with their genitals have been placed back in the school and are still on the basketball team.

McCutchen said that it is not necessarily about the perpetrators but “it’s about the school district who we entrusted our children to.” He said this school district system failed everyone involved; later he said “conduct rewarded is conduct repeated” and that “trust has been betrayed.” The lawsuit has been filed in federal court in Fayetteville. Around The Table’s Facebook Page states that the attorney for the Huntsville School District declined to comment or be interviewed at this time. The full interview with McCutchen is on Around The Table’s Facebook Page.