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Andrew Arcangelo states in a lawsuit filed last week that the West Morris and Chester school districts neglected to take action when he made numerous reports of being punched, kicked, groped and verbally abused, NJHerald reports.
The abuse began in 2011, when Arcangelo was a fifth-grader at Bragg Elementary School — and continued at Black River Middle and West Morris Central High Schools until he left during his freshman year on recommendations from his therapist, the report says.
Arcangelo was told to "move out of town or kill himself,” called homophobic slurs and endured being groped in the buttocks and genitals in the bullying instances and physical assaults, which occurred almost daily, the suit alleges.
When reported to the schools’ principals, Arcangelo says his pleads were met with apathy — one teacher even told him, “boys will be boys,” says the suit, which names both districts as well as numerous students and administrators.
As a result, the former student began skipping school and suffered physical ailments including chest and stomach pains, according to the suit, which says the districts failed to abide by the state’s anti-bullying law forcing schools to investigate reports and apprehend accused bullies accordingly.
The suit states that Arcangelo “missed social development milestones crucial to any adolescent's development” and “has been unable to maintain any social interaction and activity” as a result of the bullying that caused him to leave the district.
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