Asheville School settles child sexual abuse lawsuits filed by former students
ASHEVILLE – Nearly four years after filing child sexual abuse and related claims against Asheville School, five former students have reached a settlement with the private, boarding high school off Smokey Park Highway.
Documents filed Nov. 26 in Buncombe County Superior Court show that the alumni, who filed the lawsuits between 2020 and 2021, settled the claims against Asheville School with prejudice – meaning they will not bring future claims against the school.
Asheville School and the law firms of Rawls, Scheer, Clary & Mingo, and Paul Mones LLC, jointly representing four survivors of sexual abuse at Asheville School in the mid-1960s and one individual alleging negligent supervision and training related to sexual abuse by a faculty member employed in the early 1990s, together issued a statement Dec. 3 announcing the settlement in the “tragic cases.”
Plaintiffs’ attorneys Amanda Mingo, Katie Clary and Paul Mones, said in the statement that they “commend their clients’ bravery in coming forward, seeking change in the face of the painful events that have caused each lifelong pain.”
“I am terribly sorry for the experience of these individuals so many decades ago at Asheville School. Their stories are tragic and painful. As an Asheville School alumnus, it is sad to hear their stories,” Thomas Shores Jr., Board of Trustees Chairman at Asheville School said in the same statement.
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The lawsuits were all filed under the 2019 North Carolina SAFE Child Act, which provided a two-year lookback window for adults who were child victims of sexual abuse – and aged out of the statute of limitations – to sue their abusers. The timeframe to file those claims was Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31, 2021.
The Nov. 26 lawsuit filings did not disclose details of the settlements. Asheville School and the plaintiffs’ lawyers declined to answer further questions from the Citizen Times.
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Original claims were for compensatory and punitive damages for lifelong physical and emotional injuries the students said they suffered as a result of the abuse that started when some were as young as 13 and when some were living in the same campus dorms as their abusers.
The claims also allege Asheville School knew of the abuse and “created a toxic school environment, and was wanton, reckless, tolerant, and deliberately indifferent to the abuse” by the former teachers. None of the staffers was ever criminally charged.
Among dozens of WNC child sex abuse lawsuits
Before the lookback law was passed in 2019, child sexual abuse survivors were only given until age 21 to file civil lawsuits. The law now sets the statute of limitations at age 28.
The Asheville School lawsuit settlements follow what legal experts say was likely the first case successfully filed under the SAFE Child Act’s lookback clause, also known as a revival law, since it revives an expired statute of limitations.
In February 2023, Rachel Howald, 53, a survivor of child sexual abuse at the formerly Asheville-based Ben Lippen School, was awarded $1.2 million in a civil case against a former school coach, Pamela K. Herrington.
Howald claimed Herrington sexually abused her in the 1980s while Howald was a teenage student at the Christian school, which caused Howald lifelong emotional trauma and a PTSD diagnosis. She also sued the school for allowing Herrington multiple opportunities to victimize her. In June 2022 the school settled with Howald in federal court under sealed terms.
The revival law opened the door for hundreds of child sexual abuse civil claims across the state, including dozens in Western North Carolina, against individuals such as teachers, coaches, pastors and scout leaders, as well as the Daniel Boone Council of the Boy Scouts, churches, camps and other institutions for failing to protect children.
Although several victims have now settled lawsuits, the legality of the two-year lookback clause of the SAFE Child Act — passed unanimously in 2019 by a Republican-controlled General Assembly — is still in question.
The N.C. Supreme Court in September heard an appeal by plaintiffs in a child sexual abuse case against the Gaston County Board of Education and a former coach. Three former students filed a lawsuit in 2021 seeking damages against the school board and Gary "Scott" Goins, who was sentenced to 34 years in prison in 2014, convicted of 17 sexual offenses against children, including statutory rape.
The Gaston school board claimed as one point of defense that the lookback window was unconstitutional. This same defense was used by Asheville School, one of the country’s most expensive prep schools, with an annual boarding tuition of more than $74,000. The school, which operates as a nonprofit, had nearly $106 million in assets in 2022, according to tax records.
After multiple lower court rulings, the Gaston County case now awaits the Supreme Court’s decision. Attorney General Josh Stein, whose office drafted the SAFE Child Act, is also a party to the suit.
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Asheville School said in the Dec. 3 statement that it had “learned from (the victims’) stories.”
“We have committed ourselves to extensive programming to prevent anything like this ever happening again at our school,” Head of School Anthony Sgro said in the statement.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys said they acknowledge “the decisions and efforts by Asheville School to resolve these matters and hope that this resolution will make schools safer for children.”
Sexual assault help
Following are some local resources for victims of sexual assault or abuse:
Mountain Child Advocacy Center: Therapy and education for abused children and their families. Call 828-213-9824.
Our Voice: Asheville rape and sexual assault crisis center for ages 13 and older. Call the 24-hour hotline at 828-255-7576 or text VOICE or VOZ to 85511.
Buncombe County Family Justice Center: Call 828-250-6900 or go to the center at 35 Woodfin St., Asheville.
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Karen Chávez is Executive Editor for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Tips, comments, questions? Call 828-236-8980, email KChavez@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville School settles child sex abuse claims by former students
