Family Outraged at Kansas High School

OLATHE, Kan. (CN) - Parents say that after a football player - the son of the head football coach - sexually abused their daughter at school, the principal at Olathe High School, acting with "complete indifference" to the attack upon the honor roll student, threatened to suspend her "for having sex on school grounds."

Gregory and Adrienne B sued Olathe Unified School District 233 on behalf of themselves and their daughter, in Johnson County Court. They say their daughter's assailant is the son of the school's head football coach, and that he "forcibly ha(d) intimate relations" with her "against her will and without her consent," after trying, and failing, to do so the day before.

The girl, A.B., was once a "high achieving student at Olathe South High School with a 3.8 G.P.A., who engaged in extracurricular activities and loved school," her parents say. After she was attacked, she has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

One day before the alleged attack, the football player, B.G., went A.B.'s classroom and "pretended to be and convinced plaintiff A.B.'s teacher, without any note, written authorization, or authority whatsoever, that he was 'an office aide' and that plaintiff A.B. was 'required at the office,'" the complaint states.

The teacher let A.B. leave with B.G., who demanded she "leave the school with him and engage in sexual activity with him," the parents say.

"While plaintiff A.B. and B.G. were still in the schools hallway, a teacher who was walking by overheard plaintiff A.B. saying 'no' in a loud voice, inquired as to what was going on and then directed plaintiff A.B. and B.G. to return to class," the complaint states.

"Plaintiff A.B. was visibly shaken from the incident to the point that her teacher had to ask plaintiff A.B. if she was 'okay.'"

The parents add: "B.G.'s unauthorized withdrawal of plaintiff A.B. from class was videotaped by defendant School District." (27.)

The next night A.B. "attended a school concert at Olathe South High School to serve as an usher for the purpose of receiving extra credit in a class," the complaint states. Before the concert began, B.G. showed up again and asked A.B to "get into his car."

"Once inside the car, while on school grounds, B.G. proceeded to forcibly have intimate relations with plaintiff A.B. against her will and without her consent and/or have intimate relations with plaintiff A.B. under some mistaken belief that plaintiff A.B. had somehow consented to same," the complaint states. "Plaintiff A.B. attempted to flee but B.G. prevented her from leaving."

The girl immediately called her father and told her "that she needed him to come get her," the parents say. The father says he called 911 and Olathe police officers dispatched an ambulance for his daughter.

The next day the father contacted Principal Philip Clark, who said he was "aware of the situation" and that he was "concerned about [Plaintiff A.B's] well-being" and that she could "take all the time she needed," according to the complaint. (Brackets in complaint.)

Philip Clark is not a defendant in this case.

Three days later, A.B. returned to school with her mother to meet with Clark, who, without even asking what happened, told A.B. that she faced a "ten-day (two school weeks) suspension for having sex on school grounds, a Class III violation of the Code of Student Conduct," according to the complaint. (Parentheses in complaint.)

In "utter disbelief and distress about the threatened suspension," the father says he called the principal and "demanded an apology" for threatening to suspend his daughter.

"Principal Clark defended his comments ... stating that A.B.'s conduct was a violation of the school's code of conduct," the complaint states.

The parents say that when their daughter returned to school, one of her teachers warned her "that she should stay away from Jeffrey Gourley because Jeffrey Gourley was 'saying all sorts of nasty things' about plaintiff A.B. to other teachers and students at Olathe South High School."

Jeffrey Gourley, the school's head football coach and the father of their daughter's alleged assailant, is not a defendant in this case.

The parents add: "(T)he Olathe South High School's resource officer took statements from students regarding Jeffrey Gourley sharing false information with students about the incident concerning plaintiff A.B."

The girl's father says he contacted the superintendent "due to principal Clark's complete indifference to the incident which occurred while on school property and during an official school activity," and that a spokeswoman for the superintendent returned his call and said "that their office was unaware of the incident."

"To the best knowledge of the plaintiffs, no action was taken by the defendant school district, the superintendent, or anyone else in the superintendent's office to attempt to learn the facts surrounding the incidents at issue in this case," the parents say.

The family seeks damages for negligence, liability and outrage. They are represented Charles Speer of Kansas City, Mo.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit