Huntsville boys team abuse-suit trial is set
Case on calendar for February 2023
FAYETTEVILLE — A federal judge has set a tentative trial date more than a year out in a lawsuit against the Huntsville School District that claims that members of a boys’ basketball team were sexually abused.
U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks set the case for trial beginning Feb. 13, 2023, in Fayetteville.
Brooks last week refused to impose a gag order or close all of the proceedings in the case to the public.
In his Dec. 31 order, Brooks recognized the public’s right to view the proceedings but said the public’s right to access civil proceedings and judicial records are subject to limitations to protect legitimate privacy interests.
Brooks will require the use of an identification key, accessible only to the attorneys and the judge, to mask the names of students and parents involved in live proceedings and court filings.
“Much of this case can be heard publicly without identifying the minors involved, and, when specific individuals must be identified on the record, the identification key system will protect anonymity in open court,” Brooks wrote. “There may come a point when identifying facts cannot be avoided and closure of an otherwise public proceeding therefore becomes necessary.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville by Rebecca Nelle on behalf of her child, identified as B.N., claims that the school district knew students on the boys’ middle school basketball team were being sexually harassed and assaulted by older boys and did little or nothing to stop it.
The complaint alleges federal Title IX violations arising from deliberate indifference to and actual knowledge of sexual harassment and sexual assault of multiple students; the district’s failure to promptly and properly investigate reports of sexual harassment; and claims a hostile education environment was created that denied B.N. and other students access to educational opportunities.
Title IX of the federal Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a law to ensure that all students — male and female — have access and equality in education. It offers a wide range of protection stretching from athletics and admission to housing and sexual harassment.
The district has denied liability and allegations in Nelle’s lawsuit. The district has also denied that school officials knew of the abuse and did nothing about it.