Special needs student, 14, 'raped in Alabama school bathroom after teacher told her to act as bait in bid to catch sexual predator'

  • Horrifying plan allegedly took place at Sparkman Middle School in Toney
  • Boy was suspected of luring children into bathrooms for sex during the day
  • However he could not be punished because he had not been caught in act
  • Teachers told girl to meet the boy in the bathroom when they would rush in 
  • But they went to a different bathroom which meant no one could intervene
  • U.S. Education and Justice Departments have are supporting the family's federal lawsuit against the Madison County School Board

A 14-year-old special needs student was allegedly raped after a teacher convinced her to act as bait in a bid to catch a school's sexual predator.

The girl was said to have become involved in the plan after faculty members at Sparkman Middle School in Toney, Alabama, received complaints that a boy had been luring classmates into bathrooms and asking them for sex. 

Despite the constant allegations of sexual misconduct, he could not be punished because he had not been 'caught in the act'.

Therefore a teacher asked the young girl to meet him in the bathroom but would rush in before anything could happen, according to court documents.  

A vice principal at Sparkman Middle School in Toney, Alabama, asked a girl to act as bait so they could catch a sexual predator in the act 

A vice principal at Sparkman Middle School in Toney, Alabama, asked a girl to act as bait so they could catch a sexual predator in the act 

The plan took a horrifying turn when the suspect asked the girl to meet him in a different bathroom - meaning no one came in to save her. 

The girl had allegedly told the school's vice principal Jeanne Dunaway of the plan, but according to court documents, she didn't respond. 

In the aftermath of the alleged rape in January 2010, when a lawsuit was filed against the school, one vice principal claimed that the girl was responsible for herself when she went into the bathroom.

Another, according to the documents, said that they 'weren't sure whether she consented' to the alleged assault. 

About a week before the suspected attack vice principals Dunaway and Teresa Terrell received a complaint that the boy had touched a female student inappropriately and was assigned in-school suspension, according to federal attorneys.

About a week before the alleged rape vice principals Jeanne Dunaway (left) and Teresa Terrell (right) received a complaint that the boy had touched a female student inappropriately. They both still work at the school 

A few days later, June Simpson, a teacher's aide at the Huntsville-area school, told the principal, Ronnie Blair, that the boy had 'repeatedly tried to convince girls to have sex with him in the boys' bathroom on the special needs students' corridor'.

She alleged that he even had sex with one student, according to the brief. 

On January 22, the suspected predator approached the victim and asked her for sex, an offer which she had repeatedly refused.  

When the girl told Simpson, she encouraged the girl to 'meet (the boy) in the bathroom where teachers could be positioned to 'catch him in the act' before anything happened,' according to the brief.

The girl's attorney Eric Artrip said they had found 'substantial evidence' that his client had been forcibly raped 

The girl's attorney Eric Artrip said they had found 'substantial evidence' that his client had been forcibly raped 

The girl initially refused, but then agreed, according to her attorney Eric Artrip.

Simpson and the girl went to Dunaway's office to explain the plan, but Dunaway allegedly 'did not respond with any advice or directive'.

The girl left Dunaway's office, found the boy in the hallway, and 'agreed to meet for sex,', the documents state.

But instead of meeting in the boys' bathroom on the special needs students' corridor, the boy told the girl to meet him in the sixth-grade boys' bathroom, in another part of the school.

This meant none of the staff could intervene and stop her from the alleged attack.  

The girl's attorney Eric Artrip told CNN: 'We found substantial evidence of a forceful rape, and that's what happened here.

'The idea she consented to this and somehow allowed it to happen is incredible.'

In December a Federal Court threw out claims that the school district violated Title IX of federal law which dictates how schools must respond to allegations of sexual harassment.

The Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education filed an amicus brief Wednesday supporting her family's federal lawsuit against the Madison County School Board in Alabama. 

It states that using a child as 'rape bait' clearly violates Title IX'.

It adds: 'School administrators knew the student's extensive history of sexual and violent misconduct and were alerted to the substantial risk he posed.' 

The school's faculty are appealing the state civil suits. 

One of the vice principals has now been promoted to a principal at a nearby elementary school.

The teacher involved in setting up the plan has resigned.