Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Document: Joplin High School rape victim tells her story

In a first-person account filed with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, a student related a brutal rape that she claims took place under a stairwell at Joplin High School.

The complaint also says the Jasper County Prosecuting Attorney's office told her it had investigated 10 sexual misconduct reports from Joplin High School, including three rapes.

The student, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a lawsuit against the Joplin R-8 School District last week in Jasper County Circuit Court, saying the district provided little help and had done nothing to deal with the alleged rapist, who had a history of previous such incidents.

In the documents filed with the state, Jane Doe says the boy sexually harassed her in class and sent her messages, asking her for sex and sending photos of his sex organ.

The harassment culminated with the rape, which Jane Doe says occurred during sixth hour on February 24, 2016.

The text of the Missouri Commission on Human Rights document is printed below:

I first met (the boy) at my school, Joplin High School, when we had a class together during first hour in the fall of 2015. The next semester, in January 2016, he began to message me on Facebook asking if we could have sex.

I said, "No way." That semester, I had fifth hour with (him) in the international foods class. We were on a team together with some other friends. We started talking again then the real harassment began.

He would message me asking if we could have sex, send me (penis) pictures and say he was horny.

When my boyfriend broke up with me, I told (a friend in that class) about it. Then he began asking me if I wanted to meet up and have sex. I told him no, I am going through a bad break up. I became infuriated with him pestering me to "show me your body" and other comments.

On February 24, 2016, I was already having a bad day after breaking up with my boyfriend and needed a hug from a friend. (He) had me sit down under a rock ledge under the back stairs, then he shoved me down, pulled down my pants and raped me.

I was telling him no, to stop, but he just kept going. Finally, I used my knee and shoved him off. 

He sat down and while I was crying and slowing getting my pants back on, he said, "I was helping you get over (her boyfriend)."

I left in a hurry back to my seventh hour and my friend (name redacted) saw me (we had seventh hour together, as well). I told her everything that happened and then later reported the rape to police with my parents.

I was not able to return to classes at Joplin High School after that. It took more than a month for the school district to accommodate me with classes on line to take so I could finish my course work and graduate.

We found out from the prosecuting attorney's office while they were investigating my case that there had been 10 other incidents regarding Joplin High School, including three rapes.

The rape was investigated and the accused, a 16-year-old, was turned over to juvenile authorities, meaning that the outcome of the case is not a matter of public record.

Jane Doe is asking for a jury trial and will seek damages, punitive damages, costs, and attorney fees.

Earlier post

Explosive new lawsuit claims Joplin R-8 officials failed to deal with sexual assault at high school

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