PUYALLUP, Wash. -- A group of parents are suing the Puyallup School District, alleging their children were sexually abused at the hands of another student. They claim the district knew about the alleged abuse for over a year, but did nothing.
It was back in January when KING 5 first reported claims that a special needs student at Ridgecrest Elementary had inappropriately touched several of his classmates and staff members at the school.
When Jamie Eidson brought up the alleged abuse with her own daughter, a nine year old with special needs who also attends Ridgecrest, she says she saw fear in the girl's face.
"She just wasn't herself," she said. "She was immediately able to tell me the boy who was acting out, before I even researched and found out for myself."
Eidson says she went to the school the next day and met with the principal, but didn't get the answers she was looking for.
"I just wanted some answers, some simple answers like is my daughter safe, how long was she with the boy in the classroom, and they wouldn't give me any answers. They just said they couldn't tell me," said Eidson.
Now, she plans to join two other families that have filed a lawsuit against the Puyallup School District. The lawsuit accuses the school of committing a crime when it failed to report the suspected abuse to local authorities.
The lawsuit suggests the district knew about the child's inappropriate touching of other students for over a year, but did nothing, perhaps because the accused student's mother is a district employee.
"I was shocked," said Eidson. "It was just, maybe a reason why the school was covering things up and wouldn't give answers to any parents."
Because of this pending litigation, a spokesperson for Puyallup Schools couldn't say much, but he did tell KING 5 that the district conducted its own investigation and found the claims of sexual abuse were unsubstantiated.
He also says they did contact local authorities, as required by state law. He said the allegations are something the Puyallup School District took seriously, from the very beginning.
A September 2014 letter from the district addressed to one of the families involved in the lawsuit said that Ridgecrest Elementary has implemented new protocols regarding the shared bathroom used in the special education classrooms. That bathroom is where parents believe the sexual abuse took place.
Eidson says that's just not good enough.
"I would like everyone involved at the school to be held accountable," she said. "Those kids were hurt. The teachers and principal and school knew about it. And that's not okay."
