A woman accuses a schoolmate of raping her at age 12. The school system says she is making it up.

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Updated 2:00 PM CDT, March 26, 2024

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A 24-year-old woman told jurors Tuesday that she was repeatedly raped and sexually harassed a decade ago as a seventh-grade student in Virginia, and that school officials reacted to her pleas for help with indifference.

Lawyers for the school system say she is making it up, and she wept on the stand when she was cross-examined about evidence suggesting her allegations were untrue.

An eight-person civil jury in U.S. District Court in Alexandria will have to decide whether the woman — identified in court papers only by her initials B.R. — is telling the truth, and whether school officials should be held liable for their response.

The case is one among several high-profile sexual misconduct cases that have been filed in recent years against northern Virginia school systems. Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has faulted school systems for their responses to issues of student safety.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/sex-assault-school-trial-fairfax-virginia-d4641afbd68f6c7687dddc91f0c74978

[Warpy]

1. I don't know about this particular case

but I know it happens.

It happened when I was in school, not to me but to friends. I didn't doubt them when they told me.

[jimfields33]

2. Fairfax county schools seems to have major problems.

They seem to be in the news often for not great reasons.

[Warpy]

4. Unlike other counties that manage to keep this stuff quiet

Girls and young women are generally not treated well. Period.

[demigoddess]

5. Fairfax has always had problems with schools. I know because my kids

went to school there in the 80s. Could not wait to move away. They purposely set up the classes so that military kids got the worst teachers. And then blamed the military kids for 'wrecking' their school system. My sons went there and both have high IQs. They were bored to tears because of such lousy teachers.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

3. I know whom I believe