‘Upset and embarrassed’ girl forced to show bra in school’s search for gun, suit says
An Indiana school official called a student’s mother to say “everything was fine” following a search of the 13-year-old student.
But all was not fine for the girl, who was left “tremendously upset and embarrassed” when she was forced to expose herself for a nurse and dean at Jay County Junior-Senior High School in Portland, Indiana, according to a lawsuit.
The 13-year-old student was pulled out of class without reason by the dean of students Nov. 21, according to the federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. She was taken to the school nurse’s office, where the nurse told her she was going to be searched, the lawsuit said.
The dean stayed in the room as the girl was searched, the lawsuit said. She pulled up her pant legs to show her socks and later pulled up her shirt to expose her midriff.
Then, the middle schooler was forced to lift her sweatshirt up further and pull her “bra away from her body,” attorneys representing the girl said. She still had not been told why the search was taking place, according to the lawsuit.
“(The girl) did not voluntarily consent to doing this, but as with the other orders, she reasonably believed that she had to comply,” the lawsuit said. “She therefore held her shirt up above the bottom of her bra and pulled out the bottom of her bra away from her body.”
Nothing was found in the search, as the girl was not possessing a weapon of any type. A search of her locker also came up empty, according to the lawsuit.
The search happened because an anonymous tip was made about the student having a gun, attorneys said. The student believes she knows who the accuser was because a similar false report had been made previously.
“(The dean) never explained why, instead of requiring a 13-year-old to expose herself, the resource officer had not been asked to use his metal detector wand on the outside of (the girl’s) clothing,” according to the lawsuit. “Nor did he explain under what circumstances he believed a 13-year-old girl would or could hide a gun in her bra.”
The “very intrusive search” violated the student’s Fourth Amendment rights, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, the ACLU said in a Tuesday, Jan. 9, news release. The dean and nurse are named as the defendants in the ACLU’s lawsuit.
Attorneys said the incident left the girl “traumatized” and said she has not returned to the school.
“We are aware of media reports of a press release shared by the ACLU of Indiana in connection to allegations concerning a search conducted at Jay County Junior-Senior High,” Jeremy Gulley, superintendent of Jay School Corporation, said in a statement to WANE. “As this is a matter of pending litigation, I will have no further comment until there is opportunity for a review of facts in concert with the district’s legal counsel.”
The ACLU is seeking a jury trial and for the girl to be awarded undisclosed damages.
Portland is about 95 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
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