Fourth former student files lawsuit against Concordia Preparatory School alleging assault complaints were ignored
A fourth former Concordia Preparatory School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Towson private school and the governing body of the Lutheran Church ignored her reports of sexual assault and harassment.
The Baltimore County woman, who was a minor at the time of the allegations, filed the complaint Wednesday in U.S. District Court arguing Concordia administrators and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod failed to investigate her reports of male student athletes sexually assaulting and harassing her on campus.
A representative of Concordia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. A spokeswoman for the Lutheran Church declined to comment on pending litigation. Concordia is formerly known as Baltimore Lutheran School and is affiliated with the church.
This is the fourth lawsuit filed against Concordia in recent weeks, three of which also name the Lutheran Church as a defendant. All of the complaints describe a culture of sexual assault and harassment at the school that allegedly went ignored by administration.
Plaintiffs in all four lawsuits are represented by Christina Graziano of Ketterer, Browne & Anderson. The Sun typically does not identify victims of sexual assault.
According to the complaint filed Wednesday, several male student athletes began to verbally harass the then-freshman girl in the fall of 2017.
The student athletes, some of whom were over the age of 18, “cat-called” the girl in the hallways, expressing a desire to have sex with her.
In one incident detailed in the lawsuit, a male acquaintance picked the girl up and threw her over his shoulder. She demanded that the boy put her down immediately, but he continued to pin her legs down while he and several other male athletes repeatedly grabbed and struck her backside and thighs.
The girl later reported the assault to the headmaster, the dean of students and a guidance counselor, but no action was taken, according to the suit. The girl’s boyfriend, an alumni of Concordia, also wrote several emails to school officials calling for action on behalf of his girlfriend.
In the spring of 2018, a classmate repeatedly told the girl that he wanted to have sex with her during a religion class, the suit says, and the boy later confirmed his remarks to the religion teacher. Both students were sent to the headmaster and suspended for a week.
Meanwhile, at least a half-dozen female students at Concordia, including the girl who filed the lawsuit, began meeting with Concordia administrators to report sexual harassment and violence they had experienced at the school, but no action was taken according to the suit.
The student later transferred to another school and has undergone mental health treatment. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
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