Lawsuit: Kansas school employee locked teen with Down syndrome in closet, storage cage
A school district employee in rural Kansas repeatedly pushed a teenager with Down syndrome into a closet, beat the boy and once photographed him while he was locked in a cage used to store sports equipment, a lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court, says the paraprofessional assigned to the 15-year-old sent the photo to staff at the Kaw Valley district, comparing the teen to an animal and “making fun of his severe, demeaning and discriminatory behavior.”
The teen’s parents alleged in the lawsuit that the paraprofessional did not have a key to the cage and had to enlist the help of other district personnel to open the door and free their son, identified in the complaint only by his initials. The lawsuit, which includes the photo, said it was unclear how long the teen was locked in the cage.
The lawsuit names the paraprofessionals, other special education staff and the district, which has about 1,100 students and is located in St. Marys, about 30 miles northwest of Topeka.
There are no attorneys listed for the district in online court records, and phone calls and emails left with district staff were not immediately returned.
The lawsuit states that the teen’s placement in the closet and cage was the result of “no conduct, or minor conduct” that arose from his disability.
The paraprofessional is also accused in the lawsuit of shouting insults in front of the teen’s face on a daily basis and pulling and tugging the teen around the school by his shirt collar at least once a week.
The paraprofessional struck the teen at least once in the neck and face, the complaint said. The teen, who spoke in short, abbreviated sentences, described the incident using the words “hit,” “closet” and the paraprofessional’s first name.
The complaint alleges that the paraprofessional also made the teen walk around in dirty clothes for extended periods of time and did not feed him during lunch breaks.
The lawsuit alleges that some staff members raised concerns with the special education teacher who supervised the paraprofessional, as well as with the district’s special education director. But the lawsuit alleges that neither intervened, even though there had been other complaints in the past about the paraprofessional’s treatment of students with disabilities.
The indictment states that the defendants described their treatment of the teen as “tough love” and “how to deal with him.”
The complaint alleged that the director instructed subordinates not to report their concerns to the state child welfare agency. However, when the parents raised concerns, a district employee reported them to the agency, alleging abuse and neglect, the complaint said.
There are no criminal charges listed in online court records for the paraprofessional or any of the employees named in the lawsuit. And no disciplinary actions are listed for staff in a state education department database.
The lawsuit said the teen’s behavior worsened. The lawsuit said he refused to leave his home out of fear, stopped using his words and increasingly hit himself in the head.