Parents Sue Maryland School Officials Over Alleged Sexual Assault in Lacrosse Locker Room

A member of the Brunswick (Md.) High School boys' lacrosse team was sexually assaulted by multiple teammates in an unsupervised locker room in April, a lawsuit filed in Frederick County Circuit Court last week alleges.

As reported by The Frederick News-Post, the lawsuit alleges that “as many as three lacrosse players” held down another player and used a dildo to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, his buttocks. This conduct allegedly went on “for several minutes, and at different times.”

Additionally, the lawsuit alleges, the perpetrators “touched, assaulted and slapped” the other player “with hands and with a dildo in his buttocks and in his mouth.”

According to Ceoli Jacoby of the News-Post, the perpetrators allegedly recorded the sexual assault and distributed the video publicly.

The lawsuit was filed by the parents of the alleged victim individually and on behalf of their son, who is a minor. Neither the boy nor his parents are named in the lawsuit, Jacoby reported, adding the lawsuit also does not name the alleged perpetrators or specify if the assaults involved varsity or junior varsity athletes.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are the Frederick County Board of Education and three Brunswick High School officials, including Principal Eric Schwarzenegger, athletics coordinator Kirk Meehan and head lacrosse coach Neil Roche.

The lawsuit states that the incident was part of a “systemic problem” and that the defendants had “knowledge that sexual assaults and physical assaults were occurring in the Brunswick lacrosse locker rooms,” but did not properly supervise or respond appropriately after learning about it.

Frederick County Public Schools spokesperson Eric Louérs-Phillips declined to answer questions Thursday about the case, including the three Brunswick High School officials’ current status with the district or whether any disciplinary actions had been taken against them or the alleged perpetrators of the assault.

Schwarzenegger attended and spoke at Brunswick High’s graduation ceremony on Wednesday.

“We do not comment on pending litigation nor do we comment on personnel related matters,” Louérs-Phillips wrote in an email to The Frederick News-Post.

On April 17, six days after the alleged assault, Schwarzenegger sent a message to the Brunswick High School community regarding “an incident involving inappropriate behavior by a group of students on the boys’ lacrosse team.”

In the message, Schwarzenegger wrote that the incident was being investigated by the school’s administrative team and the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office.

“To avoid compromising either investigation, I am unable to share details about the incident at this time,” Schwarzenegger wrote.

“Additionally, Maryland law protects the confidentiality of certain aspects of incidents like this, including any disciplinary actions taken and the identities of those involved, which limits the information I can provide.”

According to the lawsuit, the victim left the locker room immediately after the assault and told his parent what happened. The boy’s parent then contacted Roche and other coaches to demand that the authorities be contacted.

Instead of contacting the authorities immediately, Brunswick High School officials “informed the members of the lacrosse team of what had occurred, thereby allowing the perpetrators time to discard evidence, collaborate on stories, and otherwise prevent a full and meaningful investigation,” the lawsuit alleges.

Several hours after the incident, school officials still had not contacted the authorities, and the victim and his parents ultimately contacted police on their own, the lawsuit alleges, as reported by Jacoby.

Asked about the school district’s policy for handling allegations of sexual assault, Louérs-Phillips cited school board Policy 418 and FCPS Regulation 400-47.

Policy 418 applies to “any FCPS employee, coach, contractor, extracurricular club sponsor, or volunteer.”

If any such person suspects that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect, they are required to make a verbal report “as soon as possible” to the Frederick County Department of Social Services or appropriate law enforcement agency.

Within 48 hours after making the verbal report, the person must also submit a written report of the suspected neglect or abuse, Policy 418 states.

Regulation 400-47 states that the Frederick County Board of Education “may suspend or dismiss an employee for misconduct in office” if the person knowingly fails to report suspected abuse or neglect.

Failing to report suspected abuse or neglect may also result in criminal penalties and the revocation of any certificates issued by the Maryland State Board of Education, the regulation says, as reported by Jacoby.