RFP Staff
♦ The Rowan-Salisbury School System paid out a $105,000 settlement for an Erwin Middle School male student who was sexually assaulted by classmates during a “Sound of the Sea” overnight field trip taking place in October of 2010.
The assault took place at the Trinity Center in Cartaret County, N.C. when the boys eighth grade Erwin School Classmates sexually assaulted him, getting him to perform oral sex, and spat on him while he slept in an unsupervised cabin. The boy had a history of being bullied at Erwin due in part to his struggles with cerebral Palsy affecting his gait and bodily movements.
Prior to the trip the boy’s father gave specific instructions and provided notes to the school about the boy’s medications and how they were to be dispensed. The instructions clearly indicated that sons Benadryl was only to be administered if the youngster suffered from bee stings. However, when boy complained of a headache, a teacher gave him Benadryl which caused him to fall deeply asleep in an unsupervised room. During his time asleep, classmates assaulted him. Toward the end of the assault boy awoke with a classmate standing over him and cursing him.
It was reported that an Erwin assistant principal and teachers, accompanying the students during the field trip, interviewed several students. The assistant principal Carl Snider told boy’s father that several Erwin students pulled a “prank” on the boy. The assault was initially glossed over and was not reported to Cartaret County Sheriff’s Office.
Unsatisfied by what she heard from Erwin Middle School personnel, the mother drove her son to Novant Rowan Regional Center for an examination where it was determined the youngster was sexually assaulted. Hospital staff provided information about the sexual assault to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office who began an immediate investigation. All four juveniles were charged with sexual assault. Later the four took plea bargains in a Carteret County court and were sentenced in Rowan County in April 2011.
During his time a Erwin the youngster was called “gay” by some of his classmates and became anxious and at one point suicidal. The boys only received five-day suspensions and were right back in class at Erwin along with their victim. Later two of the offenders attended East Rowan High with the victim.
After the criminal case, the family filed a civil suit against two of the offenders and the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education. One of the offenders later settled for $2,000 while the school system settled for $105,000. After paying off legal fees from the settlement, the parents put the remaining money into a trust for their son who will obtain it on his 18th birthday.
The civil suit alleges the chaperones were negligent on the field trip, no chaperones slept in the victim’s room during the trip, the school system did not detect signs of bullying, it failed to report the sexual assault, it failed to share important information with the parents, and the boys were not expelled. While the school system paid out a settlement–it failed to admit liability.
Erwin Middle School has reputation for bullying and for several children who committed suicide from being bullied there.
