Court ‘Rape Bait’ Ruling Reversed For Sparkman Middle School Over Sexual Assault Of Special Needs Girl

The court rape bait ruling has been reversed in Sparkman Middle School’s case. The court had initially dismissed the case involving a 14-year-old special needs student having allegedly been sexually assaulted in a boys’ bathroom by a 16-year-old.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the federal judge who dismissed the case was in error, and it has been re-opened. While it may not fix the problem, it does open the door for the student, known in the case as Jane Doe, to see justice.

Teacher’s Aide June Simpson had allegedly told the girl to follow a boy, known as CJC, into the bathroom in order to catch him in the act, and it didn’t work as she had allegedly expected. When the boy had taken Jane Doe into the boys’ bathroom and raped her, Simpson’s advice had proven grossly in error. When her parents found out what had happened, they attempted to sue the Madison County School System.

The lawsuit leading to the court rape bait ruling had quoted Simpson as telling the girl, “Don’t do anything. Just get him to meet you and we’ll catch him.”

Unfortunately, the boy in question had been known by school administration for allegedly propositioning girls to have sex with him. June Simpson had allegedly not seen the two on security cameras, and gone back to the classroom.

As a result of the federal judge’s initial decision, WHNT says not only can Jane Doe’s parents sue the school system, but they can also add civil rights violations on top of it. They can also sue over Title IX, or a law regulating how a school receiving federal funding resolves issues of sexual harassment.

The ruling originally stated that Sparkman Middle School maintains poor records and a lackluster sexual harassment enforcement standard.

“A person in Doe’s position could have no confidence in a school system that orchestrates a rape-bait scheme and whose disciplinary file describes CJC’s rape of her as ‘inappropriate touching a female in a boys’ bathroom.'”

According to documents under the court’s rape bait ruling, Principal Ronnie Blair had stated, “we did as good a job as you could do under the circumstances,” and allegedly refused to change the policies.

The reversal of the ruling now claims that Doe’s parents can once again sue the school system, despite having removed their daughter from the school and moved to another state.

Appeals court reverses #Alabama ‘rape bait’ case decision http://t.co/ix92V6VEWM

— Justin Harris (@JustinHarris411) August 13, 2015

The Court of Appeals has ruled against Blair with the following statement about the court’s previous rape bait ruling.

“No reasonable official in Blair’s position would have believed doing nothing to reform Sparkman’s sexual harassment policy was lawful in light of the clearly established principle that deliberate indifference to sexual harassment is an equal protection violation.”

Principal Blair has state-agent immunity, but Assistant Principal Jeanne Dunaway allegedly failed to enforce the policy by not reporting Jane Doe’s rape to Blair. Both were named as being “deliberately indifferent to the sexual harassment.”

Jane Doe and her parents might finally see justice done now that the Court of Appeals has reversed the initial rape bait ruling and allowed them to sue Sparkman Middle School and its system.

[Image via Google Maps / KTLA]