Kindergarten Student Sodomized By Classmates Who Took Nude Photos With School-Issued iPads, Claims Lawsuit

A kindergarten student was allegedly bullied into stripping down nude in the mudroom of his school’s classroom where he was “forcibly touched, sodomized, and photographed,” by his classmates, according to a lawsuit. This was allegedly done by a group of kindergarten kids who are just five and six-years-old.

A Michigan family is suing their school district along with individuals within the school system after the discovery of an alleged assault of their child during school hours. For the sake of the child’s privacy, the lawsuit refers to the little boy as “Jimmy Doe.” The lawsuit goes on to detail just what this Kindergarten student suffered at the hands of other children in his classroom, reported the Daily Beast.

The lawsuit alleges that five-year-old Jimmy Doe, who attended the Century Park Learning Center in Wyoming, Michigan, was not protected as he should have been by his teacher at the time. According to WFAA, these allegations are in a 23-page lawsuit, which was filed in federal court.

Besides this student’s teacher, Hillary Hubert, the lawsuit also names Principal Tonia Shoup of that school. Former Grandville School district superintendent Ron Caniff, current superintendent Roger Bearup, and assistant superintendent Scott Merkel are also included in the suit. The documents allege that these are the people who failed to keep this child safe from his tormenting peers.

The lawsuit details how four boys allegedly abused Jimmy Doe in the classroom’s mudroom during “free time.” The group of little boys directed the child to pose nude for photos at which time they touched and sodomized their classmate. They used the iPads that were supplied by the school to the classroom to take these pictures.

The boy was allegedly told that if he didn’t do what these four boys asked, they would no longer be his friends. He was also threatened by his young peers that if he told anyone, they would blame this all on him.

The kids repeatedly “deleted old nude photos of their classmate to make room for the new ones they were taking, according to the Detroit Free Press, which was the first media site to report this horrendous case.

The parents of the alleged victim grew concerned after their normally happy boy started to “deteriorate.” The parents brought their concerns to the teacher during a parent-teacher conference. They had no idea what their son was enduring in the classroom; they only knew something was going on due to this change of behavior.

The mother of the boy reportedly asked his teacher, Hubert, to keep an eye out for possible teasing, which is stated in the court documents. It was two months later when the boy’s emotional health declined even more, and the boy told his mom he was being “teased for pictures.” The mother approached the teacher again, who said she hadn’t noticed any teasing in the classroom.

It was in the spring when the teacher saw one of the students hiding the screen of his iPad. She confiscated the device and saw the camera roll contained many pictures of Jimmy Doe’s genitals. The principal notified the mother, and they did what the principal called a “complete investigation.” The four boys claimed it was all the alleged victim’s idea. The principal said they found no “assault or coercion involved in the incident.”

When the mother asked that the pictures not be erased, she was told by the principal that because they were “pornographic” in nature, she could not review them. She said she was told by police to delete the photos, but the police report appears to tell a different story.

The police reports indicate that while the principal contacted the authorities, she declined to identify the boys. She told the police that she deleted the photos and that she was contacting the police because the mother “demanded it.”

According to the documents filed in court, superintendent Caniff and the assistant superintendent Merkel “stressed that the incidents needed to be viewed as part of kindergarteners’ normal curiosity.”

They also suggested it would be the alleged victim who would be disciplined in this matter if the parents continued to press the issue. They backed up this train of thought by pointing out how the alleged victim was the only one whose genitals were photographed.

According to the lawsuit, the boys that allegedly attacked Jimmy Doe went on to the first grade, but the alleged victim was left back. The documents allege that he was still taunted by classmates a year later and that distress led him to avoid the bullies. He did so by covering himself with mulch while hiding beneath play structures during recess.

Caniff, who is now with another school system, released a statement disputing the allegations.

“At the time I was at Grandville Public Schools, there was never any suspicion, suggestion or complaint expressed about inappropriate physical contact between the students involved in this matter, nor did the investigation indicate any concerns in that regard.”

According to the Daily Beast, the boy’s teacher is still listed as an employee at the school.