Fairfax County School Board requests court costs from sexual abuse survivor

FAIRFAX, Va. (7News) — The Fairfax County School Board is asking a judge to order a sexual abuse survivor to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in court fees after the sexual abuse survivor sued the school board.

The former Fairfax County student alleged she was sexually assaulted and sexually harassed and that the Fairfax County School Board, teachers, and administrators failed to respond to complaints as required by Title IX appropriately.

In April, a jury found the school board not liable. However, the former Fairfax County Public School student is asking a federal court to grant a new trial.

The survivor goes by the name Kate. She does not want to show her face at this time or publish her real name. But she wants to share her story to let sexual abuse survivors know they aren’t alone.

“When I was 12 years old and in seventh grade at Rachel Carson Middle School, I was subjected to sexual abuse by peers at school,” Kate told 7News. “And I had reported that I was a victim of sexual violence to my teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators.”

Kate sued the Fairfax County School Board and FCPS staff and sought damages for pain and suffering.

The case went to a jury.

RELATED | Jury sides with FCPS after former student accuses district of mishandling sexual assault

In closing arguments, the Fairfax County School Board’s attorney argued Kate was the person who initiated sexual contact. And when it came to the rape allegation, the Fairfax County School Board’s attorney said, “No one saw a thing” and that “[Kate] was the only witness” to the alleged rape off campus.

“I think that that is an example of victim blaming and victim shaming,” said Kate. “I think it's very sad because when I was 12 years old, I received a rape kit and the rape kit was conclusive of rape injuries.”

And while Kate is asking a federal court to grant a new trial, the Fairfax County School Board is asking a judge to order Kate to pay nearly $250,000 of the school board’s court fees.

An FCPS spokesperson told 7News in a statement, “As a publicly funded body, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) takes proper guardianship of taxpayer dollars seriously. The complainant of this baseless lawsuit was seeking $22 million of those taxpayer dollars in damages. We always believed our staff acted professionally and with compassion in the circumstances that led to this lawsuit, which were also investigated by police at the time. After a recent five-week trial, a jury agreed with us. We are seeking to recoup certain legal costs related to the trial. Court costs differ from attorney fees which we are not seeking to recoup. These funds would be returned to their true intent — educating our students. To be clear, we believe we should be held accountable if things go awry. This was not one of those times.”

Alexander Prout is the Co-Founder of I Have The Right To, an organization that advocates for sexual abuse survivors and works with schools to educate school staff and students about sexual abuse and harassment.

Prout said if a judge orders Kate to pay the school board’s court costs, he’s concerned about what message that would send to sexual abuse survivors.

“If this is successful, it will send such a chilling message to survivors everywhere, but particularly within Fairfax County that their voice is not one that will be listened to or believed or supported,” said Prout.

“I think the message that it sends to other victims and family members and also prospective attorneys for these victims is don't come forward because we will use very aggressive litigation tactics against you where we spend millions of dollars against you,” said Kate. “And then we'll come after you for cost. It's really a way to silence other victims and deter them from coming forward. And it's just really harmful for survivors. Frankly, schools have a responsibility to keep children safe.

7News asked FCPS to provide the total amount of tax dollars the school system spent on this case with outside attorneys. FCPS’ media relations team told 7News to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to get that information. 7News is expecting to receive that information next week.

As for Kate’s request for a new trial, the Fairfax County School Board has until June 17 to respond to the court, and Kate will have an opportunity to respond by July 1. After that, a judge will decide on the request for a new trial.