By Cameron Bopp

Published: Jun. 6, 2023 at 5:06 PM EDT|Updated: Jun. 6, 2023 at 6:17 PM EDT

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston County School District is facing a new lawsuit after a parent says her kindergartner was punched, harassed and sexually assaulted by another student for months with little to no prevention efforts from school officials.

The lawsuit, filed in Charleston County Monday, states between September and November of 2022, another kindergartener inappropriately touched the plaintiff’s son about 10 times at Mary Ford Elementary School. In December, the documents go on to state the mother requested her son be moved to a different classroom, however, that request was denied.

The kindergartner also kissed her child multiple times in a physical education class in November of 2022, according to the suit. From there, the parent alleges the other student cut her son’s hair, punched him and grabbed his genitals on several different occasions.

The parent alleges her son’s teachers and aides saw it all and didn’t do enough to prevent the incidents from continuing to happen.

She alleges in the suit her son was then hit in the “groin” and “buttocks” in January and requested her son be analyzed by a psychologist.

A day later, the lawsuit states her son had been punched in the stomach. Court documents state she again requested a classroom change for her son, which was again denied. The suit paraphrases that the student’s teacher said to his mother there’s a child like that in every classroom.

The lawsuit alleges negligence in hiring staff ill-equipped to care for kindergarten students and in failing to recognize a clearly dangerous situation after being provided notice, among others.

Tyler Rody, the attorney representing the mother in the lawsuit, provided the following statement:

I’m proud to be representing this young boy and his mother. Unfortunately, staff and administration at Mary Ford knew that a particular child in the class was exhibiting inappropriate sexual behavior towards the young boy and chose not to inform the boy’s mother and chose to take no action to prevent further sexual assaults.

In a request for comment, Andy Pruitt, spokesperson for Charleston County School District, said, “At this time, our legal counsel is still waiting to receive the suit. Once they do, the lawsuit will be reviewed thoroughly, and we will determine if there is anything we have to add.”

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Checkout the article here.