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Lawyers donate to Wyoming Valley Habitat for Humanity

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State Police: 3-year-old Nescopeck girl found safe after Amber Alert

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The mother of a kindergarten girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by two male classmates inside a closet at Schuyler Elementary School in 2013 has sued the Wyoming Valley West School District on claims of &#8220;deliberate indifference.&#8221;</p><p>The complaint, filed July 29 on behalf of the girl&#8217;s mother, says the two boys &#8220;physically and emotionally&#8221; assaulted her daughter inside a coat closet on Nov. 8, 2013.</p><p>A teacher walked in on the alleged assault, which included &#8220;touching of a sexual nature&#8221; sometime after the boys removed the girl&#8217;s underwear, according to the complaint.</p><p>The Times Leader is not identifying the mother in order to avoid identifying the victim of an alleged sexual assault.</p><p>The boys&#8217; alleged actions were &#8220;offensive and inappropriate, and created a hostile environment based on sex,&#8221; ultimately forcing the alleged victim and her older sister to switch schools, according to the complaint, transferred Friday to U.S. District Court.</p><p>Wyoming Valley West School District Solicitor Charles R. Coslett said Friday he was aware of the complaint and a motion to dismiss it was &#8220;forthcoming.&#8221;</p><p>The girl&#8217;s mother claims the school district failed to protect her children and instead pressured her to send them to another school.</p><p>At a meeting with school officials on Nov. 12, the girl&#8217;s mother and grandmother say they sought assurances the boys wouldn&#8217;t be allowed to return to the school, but allege school officials only suspended the boys for three days, the complaint says.</p><p>&#8220;When pressed about the potentially unsafe condition in the school, not only for (the alleged victim) but for other students, and about how the boys should not be returning, it was suggested by the school counselor that (the alleged victim) be sent to another school,&#8221; the complaint says.</p><p>The girl&#8217;s mother refused, according to the complaint.</p><p>The complaint further alleges that after the assault, the girl grew irritable and despondent, had trouble sleeping and refused to go to school. When she agreed to return Nov. 13, she &#8220;refused to go to lunch, and one there would not eat anything. (The alleged victim) would not leave the teacher&#8217;s side.&#8221;</p><p>The girl&#8217;s mother also became concerned the boys&#8217; older siblings may know the alleged victim&#8217;s older sister, a fourth grader at the school, according to the complaint. School officials allegedly claimed they &#8220;never thought of that.&#8221;</p><p>The mother was forced to take both her children, who had taken on counseling, out of the school and enroll them at Dana Street Elementary, &#8220;as all confidence in school officials&#8217; handling of the incident was lost,&#8221; the complaint says.</p><p>During that time, the woman&#8217;s daughters were &#8220;essentially excluded from the opportunity to participate in regular educational activities because of the severe sexual harassment and inadequate response and remedies to the same. The school district failed to take reasonable steps to assure that (her children) would be safe,&#8221; the complaint says.</p><p>The lawsuit, filed by Scranton-based attorney James J. Conaboy, seeks monetary damages against the school district.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Mother of kindergartner sues Wyoming Valley West over alleged sexual assault