The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Suit: School ignored abuse by teacher
Before Villie Jones was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting four South
Gwinnett High School students, administrators ignored evidence that the band teacher was abusing teenage girls, a lawsuit says.
O ne of Jones’ alleged victims has sued Gwinnett County Public Schools and multiple employees, alleging the district worked to cover up Jones’ three years of sexual abuse and should have known he had sexual contact with students in previous jobs.
The lawsuit was filed in Atlanta federal court July 6.
Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks, South Gwin- nett High School Principal Monique Lee, former South Gwinnett High School Prin- cipal Eric Thigpen and five unidentified South Gwin- nett High School employees who were involved in hiring Jones are also named as defendants.
Jones, 45, has been indicted on 21 charges of sexual assault and child molestation. He remains in jail, and his trial will begin shortly after a challenge to the constitutionality of the sexual assault statute is resolved, Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Matt Acuff said. Jones is one of f our Gwinnett County teachers arrested in May 2017 on sexual assault charges involv- ing a student. Gwinnett County Public Schools declined to comment on the lawsuit. Lee, Thigpen and Wilbanks did not respond to requests for comment. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not identifying the plaintiff because she is an alleged victim of sexual abuse and was a minor at the time the alleged abuse occurred. She is being represented by Melvin Hewitt of the Atlanta-based firm Isenberg & Hewitt PC. Jones began sexually assaulting female students at South Gwinnett High School in November 2014, three working lawsuit months says. at the The after school, abuse he started con- the tinued less than through two weeks April before 2017,
Jones was arrested, the suit says.
Both the lawsuit and court documents identify four female victims: one student under the age of 16, and three others between the ages of 16 and 18. The victim who filed the lawsuit was 17 when Jones allegedly abused her. Most of the sexual assaults occurred on school property, according to the suit.
A student showed Thig- pen, then the principal, and Lee, then the vice principal, a video of Jones “wrestling” with, groping and lying on top of female students in March 2016, but neither administrator reported the video to authorities or took any disciplinary action against Jones, the lawsuit says. It goes on to claim that Thigpen and Lee told the stu- dent to send them a copy of the video and then “destroy or delete” it.
Jones was allowed to resign before his May arrest and cite “health reasons,” the was due Georgia,” suit “terminated to “relocation says. according District with within to pay” pay- the roll records say that Jones lawsuit. administrators oughly ing The him district vet and Jones “should did and before not school have thor- hirbeen history ual contact aware of inappropriate with that Jones students,” had sex- a not the related lawsuit charged to claims. sexual with any Jones relations crime was with 2017, a and student he passed before a back- May ground the job check at South before Gwinnett getting High Jones School. had a sexual relationship with a student in Cumberland County, North Carolina, beginning when she was a sophomore in high school about 10 years ago, Acuff said in a February bond hearing. The relationship resulted in a child born when the former student was 21 years old, Jones’ sister confirmed at the hearing. district dants to The for plaintiff and financial other is asking damages defen- the cover costs including medical and psychological care and attorney’s fees.