SEATTLE — A former Garfield High School student is suing Seattle Public Schools, alleging the district could have prevented repeated sexual abuse she endured as a child.
According to court documents, the victim was allegedly raped multiple times by a volunteer weightlifting and basketball coach with the high school. Walter Junior Jones, 47, is facing two felony child rape charges in connection to the case.
According to court documents, it's alleged that Jones first forcibly raped the victim in 2013 when she was 13 years old and practicing with the girls' basketball team at Garfield. The abuse continued for two years.
According to the complaint filed by the now-24-year-old victim, she is suing the district for negligence, discrimination and failure to report sexual abuse.
According to SPS and court records, Jones had a "Do Not Rehire" label on his record stemming from a 2008 incident that occurred when he was an assistant coach at Ballard High School. However, he was allowed to volunteer in the weight room with both boys and girls at Garfield by 2012. The complaint alleges this misstep by the school district resulted in Jones having "access to the victim through his position as a volunteer coach" and, instead of using it to mentor her, he "utilized his position to sexually violate the victim and inflict severe trauma upon her - trauma that is still present to this day."
According to court documents, the alleged rapes and sexual assaults committed by a then-36-year-old Jones happened until just after the victim's 15th birthday. They happened on school grounds, different homes in the area and other third-party locations.
After the initial rape in 2013, Jones allegedly threatened to kill the victim and her family if she ever disclosed the abuse to anyone.
According to court documents, other employees, including the girls' basketball head coach, found his behavior inappropriate at the time but did not know the extent of it. It was also discovered that the high school's athletic director at the time "knew Jones was working with Garfield's sports programs despite having neither the approval nor clearance to do so."
In December 2013, Jones was "removed" from the girls' basketball team and started working with the football team instead. However, that still left him with access to shared facilities used by young girls.
Jones is expected back in court next month.
