A Delaware County couple with ties to Ball State’s Burris Laboratory School filed a lawsuit in Delaware County Circuit Court 1 on Friday, in reference to what the couple alleges was “repeated sexual abuse, molestation and harassment” that occurred at the institution to their son.
The plaintiffs, who are referred to in the suit as John and Jane Doe, claim their 8-year-old son was forced to give and receive oral sex and engage in other inappropriate sexual touching with male classmates during school hours.
“John and Jane Doe were shocked to discover the horrific and ghastly events that took place within the walls of Ball State and Burris Laboratory School,” the lawsuit said.
The Does said “complete lack of supervision and institutional controls” were the cause of Junior Doe being forced to engage in sexual activities on multiple occasions.
The alleged abuse took place in the bathroom, library and classroom of the victim, and occurred after students were allowed “unfettered and unsupervised access to the Internet via computers located in the library of the Burris Laboratory School and on school laptops and iPads,” according to the lawsuit.
The students used the devices to view pornographic videos and then “act out” the scenes from the videos on each other.
The lawsuit filed by Delk-McNally LLP names Ball State, the Ball State Board of Trustees, Burris Laboratory School and Janis Segedy, the boy’s second-grade teacher, as defendants in the case.
Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications, said it is of importance to note that no adults were alleged to be perpetrators of abuse of any child in the lawsuit.
The university first became aware of the situation in December 2011 after reports of alleged inappropriate behavior among four second-grade students, Proudfoot said.
“From this point forward, the university will vigorously defend these unwarranted allegations,” Proudfoot said, in a statement. “Our commitment to the safety of the students at Burris and the university are of paramount importance, and we fully expect the evidence to bear this out.”
The suit claims students approached Segedy several times to inform her of the alleged abuse, and Segedy told the students to “sit down and stop tattling on others.”
The Does were informed of these “horrific” incidents through a phone call from another Burris parent on Dec. 5, 2011. The Does later discovered that Burris had knowledge of the incidents “several days” before Ball State or Burris ever attempted to contact the family.
In the lawsuit, the Does demand a trial by jury.
