Yuma Elementary School District One faces sexual assault lawsuit

Parents say their 13-year-old was allegedly assaulted by another teen girl- News 11's Crystal Jimenez reports

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Two parents are coming forward to tell their story after filing a lawsuit against Yuma Elementary School District One after their daughter accused another student of sexually assaulting her.

The parents, whose identities News 11 has agreed to conceal to protect the victim, said the incidents in question happened during the 2019-2020 school year. Their daughter was a student at Gila Vista Jr. High School and claimed to have been inappropriately touched by another female student various times.

A document obtained by News 11 shows the victim submitted a written report to the vice principal. The document details the traumatic experience for the victim, but the victim claims the school failed to follow up or take any action.

“According to the logs, it appears that the vice principal of the school did meet with our client. A 13-year-old girl, after she submitted this statement. That was just because there was a notation written on the log." says Ryan Hengl, the family attorney, "Our client denies that anyone from the school talked to her. But what is certain is the school did not talk to our client’s parents, nor did they talk to the state, nor did they talk to law enforcement.“

The Arizona State Board of Education requires incidents like this to be reported immediately to law enforcement.

Hengl said for six months, the victim kept the incidents bottled in until her mental and physical health took a turn. This entire time Hengl claims her parents had no idea what was going on with her until she finally revealed the details of the sexual assault.

According to Hengl, the principal, the Yuma Police Department's school resource officer, Yuma Elementary School District One, nor parents knew of the assault until months after the latest incident.

The civil lawsuit seeks $5,000,000 in damages against District One, Gila Vista's Principal, Vice Principal, and the alleged perpetrator.

District One responded to News 11's request for comment, saying it has received a copy of the complaint and denies all allegations. The district also said it will actively defend itself against the charges and cannot comment any further.

The Yuma Police Department was only able to confirm there is a current investigation underway.