Lawsuit: Darlington knew about sex abuse, did nothing
Attorneys file in Floyd Superior Court on behalf of 11 former students
Several former Darlington students filed a lawsuit against the school, as well as a former teacher and student, saying they were sexually abused during the 1970s and 1980s and the school did nothing to stop it.
The lawsuit, filed late Friday in Floyd County Superior Court, states former Darlington teacher Roger Stifflemire “preyed” on young boarding students in his dorm while he was an English professor at Darlington from approximately 19741994.
“During his 20-year tenure at Darlington, Stifflemire sexually abused Darlington students, and others, both within his dormitory, at other locations on campus, in his car, and off campus on private and public land.”
The lawsuit alleges the school did nothing when the incidents were reported and allowed Stifflemire to continue to supervise students.
“Rather than act swiftly to protect students by investigating and immediately notifying appropriate civil and criminal authorities to put a stop to this egregious behavior, Darlington turned a blind eye to the pain and suffering of its students,” the lawsuit stated.
“These deliberate and reckless actions and policies directly caused and otherwise resulted in a sustained pattern of childhood sexual abuse spanning over at least a twenty-year period.”
Darlington’s Head of School Brent Bell said in a statement that they are aware of the lawsuit.
“Our community is deeply saddened by and sorry for the pain that these former students have endured for so long. We received the lawsuit late (Friday). We need to read it and our attorney will be advising us as to appropriate next steps,” Bell said in the statement.
The plaintiffs are primarily former students at Darlington during the 1970s and 1980s.
Christopher Gaba, Mark Eubanks, William Knight, Timothy Lee, Hal Word, Kevin Simmons and three plaintiffs only identified as John Doe 1-3 say they were sexually assaulted while they were students at the school.
Amberly Waters Day, the mother of former Darlington student Charles Mark Day and representative of his estate as well as guardian of his minor child, is also a plaintiff in the suit.
The suit names Darlington as well as former teacher Roger Stifflemire, Frederick Marquette; a resident of Wetumpka, Alabama, and David Ellis who was a student at Darlington, as defendants.
According to the lawsuit:
Stifflemire would take the students on outings away from campus where he would sexually abuse them. For example, on one outing in 1978, Day accompanied Stifflemire to Marquette’s lake home for a ski trip.
The student awoke to Stifflemire’s tongue in his mouth and when Day ran to report what happened to Marquette — the man “pretending to comfort him, then began fondling him.” After that point, the filing states, Day was sexually abused by both men.
Day also reported this abuse to a member of Darlington’s leadership, who according to the lawsuit, stated “those are some serious accusations that could get you into a lot of trouble.”
Nothing was ever done, the lawsuit states.
Day committed suicide on Sept. 24, 2016.
“In a note he left at the time of his suicide,” the lawsuit states. “Mr. Day cited his sexual molestation by Stifflemire and ‘Mr. Fred’ (Marquette).”
Later, Marquette pleaded guilty to sodomizing two young teens in the 1980s in the same lake house.
The lawsuit also states John Doe 2 was sexually abused by Ellis, who was a student at that time and whose father was a faculty member. John Doe 2 was 6 years old at the time.
John Doe 2 was later abused by Stifflemire repeatedly from 19741984 and Marquette on at least one occasion, the lawsuit states.
Several of the other plaintiffs said they made complaints to staff members and then headmasters of the school. Those complaints went unanswered and each of the plaintiffs thought they were the only student who had been sexually molested by Stifflemire.
One of the plaintiffs — identified as John Doe 3 — said when he reported the abuse he was pulled out of class by a faculty member and “physically assaulted.”
Timothy Lee was a boarding student from 1985 to 1988 and reported being sexually harassed by Stifflemire in 1988.
“Darlington and its agents assured Mr. Lee and his mother that they would investigate the allegations and that they were unaware of other allegations,” the suit stated.
Timothy Lee reported the incidents again in 1999 and learned Stifflemire had left to become a principal at Prattville High School in Alabama.
“Darlington responded to Mr. Lee and stated it was aware of these allegations. However, again Darlington did nothing,” the lawsuit stated.
He also reached out to the school again in 2014.
On May 26, 2017, the school publicly acknowledged a portion of the allegations with a letter to approximately 10,000 alumni, former faculty and current parents.
“Before the letter, plaintiff’s each believed that they were the only victims of sexual abuse at Darlington.”