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A female high school student accused the Palo Alto Unified School District of improperly handling her sexual harassment case by allowing an ex-boyfriend who sexually assaulted her to attend the same after-school practice, according to recent court records.
The Gunn High School student, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, said the district reneged on an order to keep her sexual harasser from attending robotics team practices, according to a Jan. 21 petition filed with Santa Clara County Superior Court. Doe and her assailant had been in a relationship since November 2017 when he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex in January 2018. After she broke up with him, he began sending her harassing texts and spreading stories about her sexual performance to other classmates, her attorneys said.
On one text the male student allegedly wrote, “It’s hard to respect someone (after) you’ve shoved your d— down their throat.”
The female student, who is a minor, filed a Title IX complaint with the school district in June, according to court documents. In November, the district banned the male student from attending after-school robotics team practices and confirmed that the two would not be enrolled in the same classes.
“The text messages probed into (the) complainant’s sex life and suggests that she was not deserving of respect because she was forced to participate in a sexual activity,” district investigator Megan Farrell wrote in a report.
But just two months later, on Jan. 19, Doe’s parents were told that the district was revising the ban and the male student would be allowed to attend the team’s after-school activities, said Doe’s attorneys, Crystal Riggins and Laura Riparbelli. On Jan. 22, the district told Doe her ex-boyfriend would be permitted to go to future practices, but an escort would be there to monitor his behavior.
“In addition to the ongoing emotional toll inflicted on Jane Doe, this demonstrates that allowing (the) assailant to be in any workshop together with Jane Doe creates an ongoing threat to her safety that cannot be effectively eliminated,” her attorneys wrote.
It is unknown whether the alleged sexual assault was reported to law enforcement.
Last Friday, Judge Helen Williams issued a stay in the case and ordered the school district to honor the original safety directive barring Doe’s harasser from robotics team practices until further court review.
In March 2017, the U.S. Department of Education found that Palo Alto Unified School District had mishandled Title IX cases at its schools. The district announced that year it would hire a firm to investigate how the district handles sexual assault reports.
District officials did not respond to a request for comment.
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