Miss-Delectable
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News for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa
The South Dakota School for the Deaf faces serious allegations in a civil lawsuit Wednesday night.
A Minnehaha County jury heard opening statements Wednesday afternoon in a lawsuit that accuses the administration at the school of ignoring reports of sexual abuse between students back in 2002.
In the fall of 2002 a student at the South Dakota School for the Deaf, with the initials T.M., sexually abused other boys at the school. In 2003 T.M. was prosecuted in juvenile court and admitted to abusing his classmates at the South Dakota School for the Deaf.
But the issue in this lawsuit isn't whether the sexual abuse between the students happened, it's whether the School for the Deaf told authorities about it, or swept it under the rug.
In the fall of 2002, Greg Eisland, the attorney for the victims of the sexual abuse, says the South Dakota School for the Deaf swept the allegations against T.M. under the rug.
Eisland said in court Wednesday that T.M. abused as many as seven classmates at the School for the Deaf. Reports of T.M. kissing another boy and inappropriately touching others surfaced during the fall of 2002, and Eisland claims the School for the Deaf did nothing until one victim, who said T.M. raped him, reported the abuse to his mother in February 2003.
Eisland said in court that by ignoring the abuse the administration quote..."Betrayed that trust and the trust of these kids."
Ed Evans, the attorney for the School for the Deaf, argued Wednesday that it was actually the administration that uncovered the abuse. The defense said that T.M. did break some minor school rules in the fall of 2002, but the administration never found out about the serious sexual abuse allegations until January 2003. That's when the administration reported it to authorities.
In court Wednesday Evans said quote, "If he was a sexual predator it was the program installed by these defendants that found it."
The School for the Deaf also argued Wednesday that it was its internal investigation that led to the prosecution and conviction of T.M., and that it reported the sexual abuse the minute the allegations surfaced.
The trial is scheduled to take three weeks.
The South Dakota School for the Deaf faces serious allegations in a civil lawsuit Wednesday night.
A Minnehaha County jury heard opening statements Wednesday afternoon in a lawsuit that accuses the administration at the school of ignoring reports of sexual abuse between students back in 2002.
In the fall of 2002 a student at the South Dakota School for the Deaf, with the initials T.M., sexually abused other boys at the school. In 2003 T.M. was prosecuted in juvenile court and admitted to abusing his classmates at the South Dakota School for the Deaf.
But the issue in this lawsuit isn't whether the sexual abuse between the students happened, it's whether the School for the Deaf told authorities about it, or swept it under the rug.
In the fall of 2002, Greg Eisland, the attorney for the victims of the sexual abuse, says the South Dakota School for the Deaf swept the allegations against T.M. under the rug.
Eisland said in court Wednesday that T.M. abused as many as seven classmates at the School for the Deaf. Reports of T.M. kissing another boy and inappropriately touching others surfaced during the fall of 2002, and Eisland claims the School for the Deaf did nothing until one victim, who said T.M. raped him, reported the abuse to his mother in February 2003.
Eisland said in court that by ignoring the abuse the administration quote..."Betrayed that trust and the trust of these kids."
Ed Evans, the attorney for the School for the Deaf, argued Wednesday that it was actually the administration that uncovered the abuse. The defense said that T.M. did break some minor school rules in the fall of 2002, but the administration never found out about the serious sexual abuse allegations until January 2003. That's when the administration reported it to authorities.
In court Wednesday Evans said quote, "If he was a sexual predator it was the program installed by these defendants that found it."
The School for the Deaf also argued Wednesday that it was its internal investigation that led to the prosecution and conviction of T.M., and that it reported the sexual abuse the minute the allegations surfaced.
The trial is scheduled to take three weeks.