SUFFOLK, Va. — A Suffolk family has filed an $8 million civil lawsuit centered around an alleged sexual assault on the grounds of a high school in 2022.
The litigation is filed by the parent of a teenage student in the Suffolk Public Schools system who contends that an anonymous teenage "John Doe" sexually assaulted her in a classroom at Turlington Woods School in May 2022.
“Oftentimes, we look at something horrible that happened and think it’s a moment in time. But there are many decisions that lead up to that moment in time," Kevin Biniazan said, the trial lawyer on the case. The two legal groups involved in the case are Breit Biniazan and Smith Law Center.
The defendants in the case include four employees of the Suffolk Public School system, including the school's principal, where counts of gross negligence and reckless supervision and care are the backbone behind the legal challenge.
“It’s important we don’t vilify a certain individual. For the teacher, oftentimes they face difficult decisions and they make a bad choice. That doesn’t make them bad people. The issue here is everyone collectively protecting the children in a school system," Biniazan said.
At the time of the alleged incident, law enforcement had not been informed by the school's principal about this matter.
History of 'John Doe'
Significant in the complaint is an assertion that an anonymous minor enrolled at Turlington Woods had a history of sexually harassing and harming female students at Suffolk Public Schools.
The filing goes on to contend that school staff "should have known" and had reason to foresee that students were in danger of physical and sexual assault while in proximity to John Doe.
Incident on May 13, 2022
The lawsuit stems from a teacher's departure from a Turlington Woods English classroom, following Standards of Learning testing. At the time, both the plaintiff in the case and the John Doe were in the classroom, unsupervised.
Within the ten minutes the teacher was gone, the lawsuit alleges the John Doe physically and sexually assaulted and "battered" her, despite requests by the plaintiff to "stop" and "let go."
Eventually, she was allowed to transfer to another middle school she previously attended per the request of the father, once school administrators learned of the alleged sexual assault,
Attorneys are hoping for a civil trial in 2025.
“It is picking a scab that will never fully heal. Every time [they] talk about it, you pick the scab again. You hope it heals better than it did last time," said Biniazan.