A 14-year-old girl from Virginia claims her high school failed to prevent unwanted encounters between the teen and a boy who was arrested for sexually assaulting her — despite a court order requiring them to do so.
Speaking to the Washington Post this week, she described how the run-ins caused her to feel “powerless” and often triggered memories of the day she was attacked.
“It’s hard to know what was more traumatizing — what’s happened then or what’s happening now,” the girl explained. “I’ve been re-traumatized going to school. I’m not getting the proper education I deserve, and I feel powerless.”
The teen, who was not identified due to her age, claims she was forced to confront her alleged attacker on a daily basis while on the campus of John Handley High School in Winchester, Va.
Her mother, Dani Bostick, told the Post that the boy’s first and second periods were just a few classrooms down from her daughter’s this year — and the two regularly saw each other throughout the spring semester. The woman said she filed a harassment complaint with the school district in April, detailing the contact, but nothing was done to stop it.
“I shouldn’t be limited and I shouldn’t be punished for being strong and going to high school,” the girl said.
Legal documents obtained by the Post outline the July 2017 incident in which Bostick’s daughter was allegedly “abducted” and assaulted. She had never spoken or hung out with her alleged attacker, and only knew him because they were both in middle school together.
The two met each other at a park that day through a mutual friend, but the pal eventually left, according to the complaint.
Once they were alone, the boy allegedly pinned the girl down on the ground and began fondling her breasts. She claimed that he also rubbed his genitals against her, as well.
The incident lasted about an hour, and allegedly left the girl with bruises on her wrists and breasts. Bostick found out about it later that day and notified authorities.
The boy was initially charged with abduction and sexual battery, but he wound up copping a plea deal with prosecutors from Winchester’s juvenile and domestic relations court — who agreed to dismiss the abduction charge and reduce the sexual battery to simple assault and battery, so long as he complied with the terms of a supervision agreement.
All the boy had to do was stay away from his alleged victim, but school officials apparently didn’t make it easy on him.
The girl and her mother claim the district violated a federal law — known as Title IX — which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. They believe that the unwanted encounters interfered with the teen’s daily schooling and prevented her from getting a proper education.
“K12 students are legally required to attend school, so it is like I am legally required to be in fear,” Bostick’s daughter tweeted Tuesday, after her interview was published in the Post.
“Because my school refused to keep me safe, I missed over 30 full/partial days this semester,” she said. “I filed a new #TitleIX complaint on Apr 23. The investigation should have finished by May 14, but it didn’t even start until May 15 and is still dragging on as of June 19.”
Elizabeth Tang, a legal fellow with the National Women’s Law Center, has been helping the girl and her mother with their case — and ultimately agrees with their assessment about the Winchester school district.
“What they’re refusing to recognize is that it feels like she’s being sexually assaulted all over again,” Tang said, in reference to school officials.
Bostick and her daughter were able to file their harassment complaint against the school district earlier this year with help from Tang and the law center. The pair does not plan to file a federal complaint, however, on account of their feelings toward President Trump.
“[The administration has] proven time and time again that they are not supportive of survivors,” Tang said.
The lawyer who represented the girl’s alleged attacker during his court case declined to comment when contacted by the Post. School officials told the newspaper that the district ensures “a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation” of all harassment complaints, but other than that, they offered no further information.
“Winchester Public Schools takes its responsibilities under these policies very seriously,” said district superintendent Jason Van Heukelum. “We are also committed to redressing any behavior found in violation of our policies.”
