Child sex abuse in school is like many other organizational child sex abuse cases – a horrifying phenomenon of cover-ups and open secrets known by leadership and administration throughout school districts, universities, and colleges. This phenomenon usually concerns child sex abuse happening in educational settings and institutions from kindergarten through secondary education. Given the influence and proximity teachers have to students, child sex abuse occurs at high rates. A 2017 study estimated that 10% of kindergarten through 12th-grade students experience sexual misconduct from a school employee.
Schools are supposed to be a safe space for parents to trust sending their children to. While the demographics of victims vary widely, most students are low income, marginalized, female students. The perpetrators are often popular teachers in the educational environment and are more individual or isolated teachers, such as coaches, music teachers, and counselors. The perpetrators ‘groom’ students before abusing them. The child sex abuse victims are often negatively affected by the abuse for the rest of their lives.
Sex Abuse in Public Schools
While Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that is supposed to provide public schools with preventative measures for child sex abuse, mismanagement and misconduct continue to occur. School districts create a culture of delaying investigations, denying responsibility, disparaging the victim, and distorting the facts. The school districts do this to remove their liability for failing to protect the students. While policies are supposed to be in place and may be in place, school districts are often unprepared to respond to complaints adequately or are ignorant of their Title IX responsibilities.
While most news headlines center around the sexual assault issues on college campuses, the K-12 setting has received much less attention. College students receive greater education on who to report a sexual assault to, while K-12 students might not know who they can tell or are fearful of telling anyone. Unfortunately, some states do not require school districts to track the sexual abuse cases in their districts, allowing underreporting and failures to report the abuse, which further enable the abuse to continue.
Sex Abuse in Public Schools Statistics
Between 2010 and 2019, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reported that the number of sexual violence complaints filed against elementary, middle, and high schools increased by 208%. Advocacy groups, such as the American Association of University Women, state that the number of child sex abuse incidents in public schools is underreported.
However, the National Center for Educations Statistics reported in its annual “Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools” that 5.2% of the 2,762 kindergarten through 12th-grade schools that completed the survey for the 2017-18 school year stated at least one incident of sexual assault other than rape. The Education Department also found that sexual violence reports at elementary through high schools rose from around 9,600 incidents to nearly 15,000 from the 2015-16 to the 2017—18 school year – showing an increase of more than 50%.
How Many Public School Teachers Were Convicted of Sex Abuse?
The Stop Educator Sexual Abuse Misconduct & Exploitation (SESAME ) compiled startling statistics on the frequency of child sex abuse in schools. More than 4.5 million children surveyed having inappropriate sexual conduct from an adult, most often from a teacher or a coach, and other forms of misconduct, such as the perpetrator showing the victim pornography. Despite the large number of children who have been abused, the numbers show that less than 500 educators were arrested in 2015.
Statistical studies may show the numbers of educators and reported child sex abuse incidents increased over the years. However, this likely due to more transparency in schools or the presence of social media and cell phones in schools. This technology makes it easier for predators to prey on children.
In California, the Southern California News Group conducted a yearlong investigation, going through almost 1,900 document pages and over 100 hours of recorded police interviews that proved over a decade of leadership, administration, and school districts covering up child sex abuse allegations. In just one school district in the area, $30.2 million in settlements have been paid to victims.
Sex Abuse Education in American Schools
Erin’s Law is a law that 37 states, including New York, Michigan, California, and Texas, have signed into state law, which requires schools to include child sex abuse and exploitation prevention in the curriculum of studies to teach students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The law is now pending in Florida.
Some states, such as Michigan, have passed legislation that specifically requires a Task Force to be set up to put in place education systems and preventative measures of child sex abuse in schools. This Task Force is required to consistently gather information on the abuse that occurs. The Task Force should also create goals for prevention, create recommendations and guidelines for policies within schools throughout the state, and develop protocols to not only be able to prevent the incidents, but also to identify victims and help investigate child sexual abuse in schools.
Other states, such as Florida, have created model policies that schools should implement into their own policies in addition to a Child Abuse Prevention Sourcebook for Florida School Personnel: A Tool for Reporting Abuse and Supporting the Child.
What If You Were a Victim of School Sex Abuse?
If you were a victim of sexual abuse while in school, you could potentially file a claim against the school district and individuals. These lawsuits usually name the school district itself, teachers, faculty, coaches, and individual schools or universities as the defendants. The schools themselves must be held accountable for failing to protect you as a child. Many states are changing the laws that govern statute of limitations issues. This means that even if the abuse happened decades ago, you can still potentially file a claim now.
Contact an experienced school sex abuse attorney or law firm to discuss your legal options. A legal team can help navigate the complex legal processes for you, review your case, and determine what the best route for you to take is.