Reply to Damascus Brooming Sexual Assault Lawsuit Against MCPS Going to Trial

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/13/damascus-brooming-lawsuit-locker-room/

[QUOTE]What happened inside the locker room several years ago is well-known. Four junior varsity football players at Damascus High School in Maryland set upon their teammates, pinning three of them down and jabbing a broomstick handle into their buttocks.

But should school officials have known the attacks were likely? It’s a question a federal jury will be allowed to weigh after a judge ruled that key claims in a lawsuit against the Montgomery County school system can move forward. The judge’s decision this month is a boost to the victims and their families who have long asserted the attacks were preventable.

“Plaintiffs have put forward evidence that a reasonable jury could conclude that reckless or callous indifference occurred here,” U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte said from the bench.

Attorneys for the families say that school officials knew of at least three, earlier sexual assaults inside Montgomery County high school locker rooms, including an alleged 2017 incident among Damascus football players involving a broomstick that has emerged as perhaps the most critical and contentious part of the litigation. The families also say school officials, partly motivated to protect the powerhouse football program, allowed a player to remain on the JV squad despite his history of violence and sexual harassment, and that they left the JV locker room unchecked for an hour every day between the end of classes and the start of practice.

A football locker room, a broomstick and a sex assault case roil a school

Messitte did not set a trial date, but indicated that if the sides could not reach a settlement, the case could go before jurors for three weeks in February at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt. Potential damages could top $1 million, according to attorneys in the case.[/QUOTE]

The article is long and has LOTS of good reporting and details worth checking out. MCPS has a toxic culture of folding its hands and DOING NOTHING in the face of kids who misbehave badly. And they also do a lot of box checking, when dealing with kids requires a level of thoroughness and insistence to get to the bottom of the issue.

Between this lawsuit and the one the Marguder Mom Karen Thomas has against MCPS for the shooting of her son at school in the bathroom last year, MCPS's insurer is going to be fed up and raise their premium, which I'm sure will be passed on to us as taxpayers....[/quote]

The magruder one seems totally different to me.  The victim in that case allegedly repeatedly challenged the shooter to fight, told him to meet in the bathroom to fight, and then when the kid pulled a gun, knocked the gun away which may have caused it to fire.  Then refused to tell anyone he had been shot when help did arrive.  I’m all in favor of more security especially around the bathrooms but I’m not seeing anything McPS did really wrong in that one.  The security guard that found him saved his life.  [/quote]

I don't know where you are getting this narrative from, but Stephen Alston Jr. was older than DeAndre Thomas. And judging from the way his family conducts themselves in public, he did not come from a healthy or good home environment:

[twitter]https://twitter.com/KevinLewisNomad/status/1485715500483153920[/twitter]

I think Karen has a strong case and MCPS definitely failed her son in significant ways.[/quote]

I am not so sure it is that clean cut. According to some reports, the victim of the shooting was an extremely aggressive bully who even went to the shooter’s home to harass him. Ultimately the truth will come out. But if those reports are true, there is a young life that is completely gone due to failure to intervene to protect a child from a bully. [/quote]

I'll tell you this, regardless of whatever bullying people are trying to lay at DeAndre's feet, Steven Alston Jr was no angel. He had to procure a ghost gun, sneak it into school, then he showed no remorse after he shot the boy, which definitely was not by accident as the PP is trying to claim: https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/maryland-gun-violence-former-student-sentenced-after-shooting-15-year-old-classmate-at-montgomery-county-high-school/65-5431a3f5-7a46-49f5-a421-03a66cc2578f

[QUOTE]On Thursday, Montgomery County Judge David Boynton sentenced Alston to 40 years in prison, with all but 18 years suspended; he'll also be on probation for five years upon release. As part of his plea deal, if Alston completes a program for young offenders, he could be eligible for early release.

Boynton called the Magruder shooting a “seismic event” in Montgomery County's history, [b]specifically pointing out how Alston had bought and assembled a ghost gun and planned the shooting. At the hearing, three photos were shown of Alston posing with the unregistered gun and showing off magazines filled with bullets[/b]. Not released was security camera [b]video shown in court from inside the school showing Alston apparently skipping down the hallway after the shooting[/b].

"[b]It looks like he’s celebrating what he’d just done, skipping down that hallway not having a care in the world knowing he’d just shot another human being[/b]," State's Attorney John Mccarthy said. [/QUOTE]

Again, seeing the family Alston Jr. came from, he was not innocent and given his conduct, he was definitely not innocent. He plotted, planned and attempted to murder his classmate. And he was OLDER than DeAndre. How often are younger kids bullying older kids?

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