By Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
Clarion Ledger
July 19, 2006
A federal lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages alleges a male employee of Columbia Training School sexually assaulted a then 14-year-old female student multiple times last August.
The employee, identified as John Doe No. 1, began making sexual advances toward the girl in July 2005, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
The girl was taken to a different part of the Columbia campus in August for being disobedient, according to the suit. John Doe No. 1 transported the girl and she was left alone with the employee and no female supervision, according to court documents.
"During the night, the employee entered the girl's room and sexually assaulted her. He then left the room (and) locked her inside until the following morning," according to court documents.
The suit alleges the employee continued to engage in sexual acts with the girl throughout her time at Columbia.
The suit is the latest in a series of legal problems at the state's two training schools. The schools serve a total of 550 youthful offenders - boys ages 10 to 17 at Oakley in Hinds County and girls 10 to 18 at Columbia.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the girl by her mother, seeks $5 million each in punitive and compensatory damages from Columbia, school administrator L. Donald Armagost, the Department of Human Services, which oversees the schools, DHS Executive Director Don Taylor, DHS Youth Services Director Kathy Pittman and unnamed DHS employees.
"The only allegation (of rape) I know of was investigated thoroughly by our office and the state attorney general," said Taylor, who was out of the state. He said he had not seen the lawsuit.
The girl reported being sexually assaulted to staffers at Columbia, but they made no attempt to formally investigate her claims, according to the lawsuit.
"It was a tragic, avoidable situation," her attorney Kenneth Miller of Ridgeland said. Miller wouldn't say why the employee wasn't named in the lawsuit.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued Mississippi in 2003 over conditions at Columbia and Oakley.
Last year, the state admitted wrongdoing and entered into a four-year consent decree to make changes at the training schools. Under the agreement, a private monitor oversees Columbia and Oakley. The monitor's report released in March cited numerous civil rights violations.
In May, the schools released dozens of offenders early because of staffing problems. The unsafe ratio of students to staffers was blamed for 50 student assaults on staffers, 125 fights and three escapes since October.
"The defendants acting individually and together, under color of law, engaged in a course of conduct, which permitted John Doe No. 1 to prey upon plaintiff ... by using threats, rewards and other means necessary to initiate and continue having sexual relations with plaintiff," the lawsuit said.
"The course of conduct amounted to a state created danger and/or special relationship which threatened to and in fact did result in the abuse and molestation of plaintiff."