SHERMAN, Texas (CN) - While a high school choir teacher seduced and infected a student, administrators ignored flaming warning signs and let him "quietly" move on to another school, the girl's family claims in court.
Jane Doe and her parents Dennis and Linda Mason sued Denton Independent School District and her alleged seducer, Michael Pricer, in Federal Court.
They also sued Barbara Fischer, principal of Guyer High School; and Jamie Wilson, Denton school superintendent, who was assistant superintendent at the time of the events in the complaint.
Doe claims Pricer seduced her and infected her with human papilloma virus while she was a senior at Guyer High School, during the 2010-2011 school year.
The family claims the school district and its officials ignored the obvious warning signs and failed to enforce their own policies, allowing Pricer to "groom" Doe and lure her into a sexual affair.
Pricer took Doe to dinner alone, let her sit on his desk and touched her inappropriately at school, classic predatory misconduct, but school officials ignored and covered up his actions, the complaint states.
"Starting in the fall of 2010, Pricer began to groom two female students in his choir class, Doe and Doe 2 (the true names of witnesses are excluded to protect the privacy of those students)," the complaint states. "Pricer started by befriending these two girls, taking them to dinner and then to high school football games. In this semester, rumors began flying around the student body that something was going on between Pricer and Doe and Doe 2.
"During the school year, Pricer continued to groom Doe by encouraging and seducing Doe and Doe 2 to dress him in women's clothing on one occasion, and into meeting him in the choir room office during school hours where he had set the stage for the girls to wash his hair and give him a shave. This highly inappropriate and suspicious behavior went unchecked and unabated by DISD officials, despite numerous warning signs.
"In March 2011, Pricer began to increase his efforts to seduce Doe. On March 5, 2011, after Doe attended a community choir event, Pricer then took Doe, alone, to McKenna Park in Denton, Texas, where they sat, talked, and held hands while Pricer caressed Doe's face.
"During spring break of 2011, the Denton choir took a school-sponsored trip to Ireland, which Pricer and Doe were both on. During this trip, students and chaperones noticed Pricer's efforts at physical contact with Doe and his attempts to separate Doe from his other potential targets. Pricer openly showed his affection for Doe by holding her hand while strolling the city streets, allowing Doe to snuggle with him, and purchasing a necklace for Doe, which Doe wore throughout the entire trip.
"Pricer's actions were so blatant that students and chaperons took notice. One student, Doe 3, noticed Pricer holding Doe's hand and told her friends on the trip. Another student and friend of Doe's, Doe 4, noticed the inappropriate behavior and asked Doe about it. During the course of that conversation, Doe 4 asked Doe whether Pricer had kissed her. At that time, Doe's response was, 'No.'
"Incredibly however, not a single school official or chaperone reported any of this behavior to any other school authorities, nor investigated Pricer's inappropriate, and openly predatory behavior." (Parentheses in complaint).
The family claims Pricer continued to pursue Doe, and kissed her after they returned from Ireland.
