Mother of teen assaulted by school van driver files lawsuit

The mother of a teenager who is mentally challenged and was sexually assaulted by a school van driver has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the driver, Pittsburgh Public Schools, the Children’s Institute and the limousine service that employed the driver.

The plaintiff, Patricia F., is the mother of H.B., the victim of the assault, and accuses the defendants of negligence, assault and battery, violations of the 14th Amendment and other counts.

The van driver, Lavalle Tucker of McKees Rocks, was sentenced in May to 3½ to seven years in prison.

Tucker, 73 at the time he was sentenced, drove for Professional Limousine Service. He had been accused of inappropriately touching the girl, then 16, on Dec. 19, 2017, while parked in a van outside the Children’s Institute in Squirrel Hill, where the girl went to school.

A woman walking her dog reported to police that she saw him touching the girl inappropriately.

Tucker pleaded guilty to indecent assault of a person with mental disabilities and related crimes.

He had been the girl’s driver for four months before he targeted her, driving to a concealed parking lot to carry out the assault, according to the district attorney’s office.

Tucker apologized at his sentencing and said he felt ashamed and humiliated.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, raises numerous federal claims against the various defendants.

Pittsburgh Public Schools and the limousine service are accused of violating the girl’s due process rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment by not protecting her. The girl attended the institute as part of a special curriculum designed for her by the city school district and the institute.

Patricia F.’s complaint said she had complained numerous times that her daughter’s safety was at risk during trips to and from the institute because after Tucker picked her and another student up at their homes, he would wait in the van with them for about a half-hour before the institute’s school day began.

Patricia F. said the district and the bus company “facilitated the attack by failing to properly supervise Tucker” or train him.

The Children’s Institute is accused of negligence in that it also had a duty to protect the girl and didn’t, the suit says.

Tucker, as an individual, is accused of assault and battery, and he and the bus company are accused together of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Tucker “knew or should have known that such contact was not permitted and that [the girl] did not consent to any such intentional contact,” the suit says.

The complaint is seeking unspecified compensatory damages and attorney’s fees.