B.C. mom alleges school district failed after 9-year-old reported sex assault by fellow students

A mom in B.C.'s Fraser Valley has filed a lawsuit against her nine-year-old son's school district, alleging he was sexually assaulted by five other boys on school grounds.

The civil claim, filed Monday in B.C. Supreme Court, alleges the Mission Public School District failed to take appropriate steps to report and investigate what happened, discipline the students responsible or protect the victim.

"While the MPSD may not have been able to prevent the assault, [the victim] had to suffer and live with his shame and guilt as a result of the MPSD's failure to address the assault and their utter failure to take any steps to protect [the victim] after the assault," the claim states.

CBC is not naming the mother who filed the claim or the school in order to protect the identity of the young boy, who is a Grade 4 student.

In a written statement provided to CBC, the mother said her son has suffered frequent nightmares since the incident on Nov. 1.

"This traumatic event never should have happened. It is incomprehensible that this has occurred and the aftermath of it and how the school staff and the district handled it was a gross injustice to my child and what he had endured when he was in their care," she said. 

The claim alleges the students responsible were known to have assaulted other children, but the school didn't take any action.

It accuses the school district of negligence, and calls for damages to cover the child's medical care and rehabilitation, along with pain and suffering, and loss of future income.

None of the allegations have been proven in court, and the school district has yet to file a response.

School district superintendent Angus Wilson declined to comment.

"As this issue is a student matter, it is confidential, and we cannot discuss it in public," he wrote in an email.

Mission RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jason Raaflaub confirmed that a parent of a nine-year-old at the school reported an incident of two other boys "pestering and bullying" their son. He said there is no sexual component listed in the police file, and it is not considered to be criminal.

'This had happened to a few other students'

The mother's notice of claim says her son immediately reported what happened to the school's administration, and the boys responsible were sent home, but her son was not taken to a medical facility to check for injuries or other health concerns.

She alleges that she learned about the incident when she picked her son up at the end of the day, and "the principal told her that she knew that this had happened to a few other students and that the school was investigating the incident."

The claim goes on to say that the principal promised the boys involved would not be allowed to return to class until the investigation was complete.

But the next day, the claim states that one of the boys was back, sitting in the same classroom as the alleged victim. The child was allegedly traumatized and was allowed to go home without finishing the day.

"The students who committed the assault were never disciplined or expelled from the school," the claim states.

The mother alleges the school should have immediately notified the Ministry of Children and Family Development, police and the family.

The child and his sibling have now been moved to a different school to protect their safety, the claim states.

It says the boy "has been continually re-victimized due to the MPSD's lack of action," and lists physical, psychological and emotional injuries he has suffered.

"He has been deprived of a normal childhood due to the actions of the defendant. His life was fundamentally changed … and the effect will be everlasting," the claim states.