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Parents sue over sex-in-class case
Mandy M. Goodnight / The Town Talk
Posted on March 27, 2003
http://www.thetowntalk.com
DERIDDER, LA - The parents
of a high-school boy who say their son had oral sex with a
14-year-old girl in biology class while a teacher was present have
filed suit, alleging teacher negligence.
The lawsuit claims
teacher Paulette Ashworth was engrossed in either an online chat
room or was downloading materials and was not watching her
class.
The lawsuit alleges the lack of supervision within the
DeRidder High School classroom contributed to the events that
unfolded in March 2002.
Harles E. Smart III and Alvin D.
Jones, both of DeRidder, were arrested and charged with carnal
knowledge and obscenity, but were found innocent in November.
Defense lawyers argued evidence indicated the girl was the
aggressor, not the two boys.
DeRidder lawyer David Wallace
said Tuesday that he filed the suit March 13 on behalf of Smart's
parents, Harles E. Smart Jr. of Beauregard Parish and Miriam P.
Johnson of Rapides Parish.
The petition for damages names
Ashworth, who no longer teaches at DeRidder High, and the Beauregard
Parish School Board as defendants, Wallace said.
Beauregard
School Superintendent Myrna Cooley was unavailable for comment. The
Town Talk was unable to reach Ashworth for comment on the
lawsuit.
The two boys were 11th-graders at the time of the
incident, and the girl was 14.
The oral-sex acts happened in
a class of about 30 students with Ashworth in the room at the time.
The lawsuit states that the girl made "sexually explicit remarks" to
Smart within earshot of Ashworth. Smart moved about the classroom to
avoid the girl, the lawsuit contends, but the "sexual advances"
ended with the girl performing oral sex on Smart.
Wallace
said he learned Ashworth gave her students a pop quiz, then put a
movie on for them to watch before the incident occurred.
He
alleges Ashworth was downloading music or participating in an online
chat room instead of watching the students' activities. The lawsuit
claims Ashworth failed to see and hear what was going on, did not
stop the behavior that led to the arrest of Smart, and was not aware
of the "disruptive behavior" going on in the classroom.
The
School Board is named as a defendant because it is "accountable" for
Ashworth's behavior and failed to monitor Ashworth's teaching, the
petition states.
The lawsuit does not indicate a dollar
amount for damages. Compensation sought includes lawyer fees and a
judgment for mental anguish and embarrassment to the parents from
the arrest and trial of their son, Harles E. Smart III.
Mandy
M. Goodnight: 487-6465;
mgoodnight@thetowntalk.com
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