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The Mount Olive girl was playing manhunt in a local park when a boy took her into the woods and forced her to perform a sex act on him in June 2019, the suit says. The boy's family then denied anything happened when the girl's family tried discussing the incident with them, NJ.com says, citing the suit.
It wasn't long before the boy and his friends started bullying the alleged victim, calling her ethnic slurs, sexual names and yelling "don't rape me," the lawsuit says.
School administrators told the girl's parents to contact police, but were not told they could file a harassment, intimidation and bullying report, according to the suit.
The district's anti-bullying specialist Susan Breton's advice to the girl was to "stay in her own lane," the lawsuit alleges. The alleged victim was also urged not to report the incident to keep the number of complaints low, according to the suit.
The lawsuit names the Mount Olive school district, its Board of Education, middle and high school principals, guidance counselor and anti-bullying specialists.
Administrators apparently accused the girl of making the assault up during a September 2019 meeting, and said the assault "didn't happen in our school, it has nothing to do with us."
The girl's family moved to a new town so she could attend a new high school, however, it turned out that the boy was previously a student in that district, the suit says. His friends continued taunting her, according to the lawsuit.
The family is seeking a jury trial and compensatory and punitive damages.
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