A Virginia high school abuse claim is a civil case brought by a student, or a former student, who was sexually abused or exploited by a teacher, coach, athletic trainer, counselor, administrator or other adult with authority at a public or private high school. It can include the school board or private school that hired the abuser, ignored warnings, or failed to act on complaints.
Blank Kim Injury Law represents high school students and adult survivors across Northern Virginia, from Tysons and Vienna to Reston, Chantilly and Leesburg. We treat every survivor as the decision-maker in their own case, whether they are sixteen or forty-six.
Why a teacher’s “relationship” with a student is abuse
Teenagers are old enough to feel adult and young enough to be manipulated by someone who controls their grades, their playing time, their college recommendation or their place in the program. Abusers in high schools use that power deliberately:
- Treating the student as a peer and a confidant, sharing personal problems and secrets
- Texting and messaging late at night, then asking the student to delete the conversations
- Offering rides home, meals, or help with college essays and scholarship applications
- Arranging private practices, film sessions, rehearsals or tutoring in empty rooms
- Using overnight tournaments, band trips, debate travel or class trips to be alone with the student
- Telling the student no one else understands them, and that others would not approve
Many survivors believed at the time that they were in a real relationship. Realizing years later that it was grooming can be devastating, and it is one reason so many come forward as adults.
Adults with power in a high school
High schools give many adults private time with teenagers. The roles that come up most in our cases include:
- Coaches and assistant coaches, including walk-on and volunteer coaches who were never fully screened. See coach and sports abuse.
- Athletic trainers, whose work involves physical contact and treatment rooms
- Band, choir, theater and activity sponsors, with evening rehearsals and travel
- Teachers who run clubs, advise newspapers or yearbooks, or tutor after hours
- Counselors and administrators, who hold sensitive information about a student’s home life
- Security officers and other staff with access to empty parts of the building
Students are also sexually assaulted by other students, at school, on trips and at events the school controls. How the school responded once it knew is central to those claims.
Complaints, warnings and staff passed between schools
In high school abuse cases, earlier warnings are common. Other students noticed. A colleague raised a concern. A parent complained about texts. Sometimes the staff member resigned from one school and was hired by another with a clean reference. The documents that tell this story include:
- The employee’s personnel file, prior disciplinary records and letters of reference
- Complaints and investigation files held by the principal, human resources or Title IX staff
- Emails and texts between administrators about the employee
- Records of reports, or the absence of reports, to Child Protective Services and police
- Travel rosters, practice schedules, rehearsal calendars and room bookings
Federal Title IX rules require schools that receive federal funds to respond to sexual harassment they know about, and a school that responds with deliberate indifference can be liable. Many schools also have written policies on electronic communication with students, and violations of those policies are evidence of what the school should have caught.
If you are a student now
If this is happening to you, it is not your fault, and you are not in trouble. You can call RAINN’s confidential hotline at 1-800-656-4673 at any hour. You can tell a parent, another trusted adult, or the police. The Virginia Child Protective Services hotline, 1-800-552-7096, takes reports about anyone under eighteen. If you are in danger, call 911.
Keep messages and do not delete accounts, even if you were asked to. If images were exchanged, do not forward or share them, and let the police handle them. A lawyer’s role comes after you are safe, and a parent can call us for you if that is easier.
Public school boards and private schools
Public high schools in Virginia are run by local school boards, which raise governmental immunity and notice defenses. Local governments have immunity for many governmental functions, while employees who commit intentional misconduct generally do not share that protection. Claims against a county, city or town generally require written notice within six months under Va. Code § 15.2-209. Private and religious high schools, including day schools and boarding schools, do not have governmental immunity but carry their own insurance and defenses.
Time limits for high school abuse survivors
Virginia’s statute of limitations contains special provisions for sexual abuse suffered as a minor, in Va. Code § 8.01-243(D) and § 8.01-249(6). They differ from the two-year rule in § 8.01-243(A). Whether abuse that continued after a student turned eighteen is treated the same way, and how notice rules for school boards interact with these provisions, are questions an attorney should check against your facts. We do not state a deadline on this page. See the Virginia sexual abuse statute of limitations.
How our high school abuse lawyers help
For current students and families, we coordinate with police, protect the student’s privacy at school, and deal with the school so the student can focus on finishing. For adult survivors, we move at your pace and gather the records that show what the school knew. Call (571) 526-0157 at any hour, request a confidential review, or meet us at our Fairfax office by appointment. If the abuse continued into college, see university sexual abuse.
