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A former Williamsport Area High School baseball player alleges he was sexually assaulted four years ago at a tournament in South Carolina by a fellow player.
Furthermore, a federal civil action by John Doe, the unnamed former student, said evidence of the alleged assault was suppressed by district officials and a retired Lycoming County detective, a claim the district has countered with a response.
The lawsuit was filed by the firm of Laffey, Bucci & Kent of Philadelphia and Stapp Law LLC of Williamsport. A copy of the suit filed in U.S. Middle District Court was provided to the Sun-Gazette on Wednesday, a day after it was filed.
District officials listed in the suit are then-Principal Brandon Pardoe, then-Assistant Principal Roger Freed, Athletic Director Sean McCann, former Coach Ryan Miller, district Solicitor Fred Holland, retired county Detective William Weber, and Jane and John Does 1 through 20.
"The lawsuit is about an educational institution that had special responsibilities and obligations to protect the most innocent among us -- children and students -- from sexual abuse," the suit states.
Additionally, the complaint alleges a "complete and abject failure of the school district to fulfill those responsibilities and obligations."
However, this matter also is about the "cover-up of abuse perpetrated by the district and its staff/representatives and how the district was able to cover-up abuse perpetrated on John Doe by another student enrolled at the high school with the assistance of Weber," the suit contends.
"Together, they conspired with the district and staff named above to conduct a fraudulent investigation, which included the destruction and/or attempted destruction of evidence, the suppression and/or attempted suppression of witnesses, failure to cooperate with law enforcement, falsifying records and/or fabricating information in official investigatory documents, and other acts," the suit states.
John Doe alleges the perpetrator of the abuse was able to escape repercussion, thus depriving the victim the opportunity for justice, discriminating against him, and violating his constitutional rights.
John Doe was a member of the high school's baseball team, the Millionaires. In March 2018, the baseball team took a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to participate in a tournament of schools from around the country.
The team was scheduled to be in Myrtle Beach from March 23, 2018, to March 30, 2018. Accompanying the team, comprised of about 40 students, were Miller and – as listed in the complaint – David Heller, Tariq Moore, Kyler Schneider, Nick Caringi and Joel Worthington, who were assistant coaches at the time.
Several school administrators, including Pardoe and McCann, both of whom had family members on the baseball team at the time, also made the trip.
Outside of the high school baseball coaching staff and administrators, there were no other adult chaperones on the trip.
George E. Lepley Jr., a criminal defense attorney local to Williamsport, was also present in Myrtle Beach at the same time to watch a family member play baseball in the tournament, according to the suit.
Pardoe and McCann did not stay with the team at the Atlantica Resort but instead at beach houses.
Some of the school administrators there to chaperone the baseball team attended a party at a beach house in Garden City, South Carolina, with a portion of the team. One evening during the trip at the Atlantica Resort, John Doe allegedly was assaulted by at least one teammate while he slept, the suit stated.
John Doe said he did not consent to this criminal sexual conduct, which would constitute violations of Pennsylvania criminal statutes prohibiting indecent assault and indecent exposure, the plaintiff's attorney said.
This allegation was not the only sexual assault to take place at the Atlantica Resort involving members of the Millionaires baseball team, the suit said.
Another student was held down by multiple teammates while the perpetrator sexually assaulted him, the suit said.
The sexual assaults, including the assault of John Doe by the alleged assailant, were captured on at least one mobile device by other members of the team.
District agents, employees, administrators and coaches – including but not limited to Pardoe, Miller and McCann -- learned of the alleged videos recorded of the assault of John Doe and the other victims while the baseball team was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
These agents, employees, administrators and coaches – including Pardoe – then allegedly instructed students on the baseball team to delete any videos they may have taken of the assault, according to the suit.
However, these instructions either fell on deaf ears or were given too late as video of the assault was subsequently shared to the phone of perpetrator and also shared on social media with multiple parties on the team and in the school community.
The alleged perpetrator shared videos of the assault on his phone with other students in the high school cafeteria once the team returned to Williamsport. The team called an emergency meeting the day that occurred and at the meeting, players were again instructed by district employees, agents, and representatives, to delete any evidence of the assault, according to the suit.
On or around May 18, 2018, a report was made to Lycoming County Children and Youth Services ("CYS") employees about an alleged sexual assault on some members of the baseball team by other members of the team.
They subsequently made a report to Child Line of the allegations and then contacted Weber, then chief county detective, who worked out of the Lycoming County District Attorney's Office. Weber, in turn, notified Pardoe of the CYS report.
In a report that Weber would author almost five months later in October -- the first and only time he drafted an investigative report related to the assault of Plaintiff a -- Weber recalls informing CYS in mid-May 2018 that he would look into the matter due to his "familiarity" with the WAHS baseball program since a family member was previously a member of the Millionaires and Weber himself attended the Myrtle Beach tournament for three years.
Weber also wrote that he informed Pardoe that Weber had no jurisdiction over what happened in Myrtle Beach, "but would assist and make referrals if need be."
Weber also told Pardoe that he was "aware of the trip and what usually goes on during the annual Trip."
Neither ever made a report to Child Line concerning what they learned from CYS, the suit alleges.
Weber gained possession of at least one of the videos depicting the assaults. However, Weber did not take any further action despite also being a mandated reporter and law enforcement official, the suit states.
Weber did not so much as even communicate the allegations of criminal sexual conduct to a single prosecutor in the district attorney's office at or around the time he received the report, according to the complaint.
Moreover, Weber did not forward the video in his possession to the Myrtle Beach Police Department ("MBPD") nor contact them about the allegations, despite the MBPD being the proper law enforcement entity to have jurisdiction over the criminal behavior of the perpetrator in South Carolina, the suit said.
Not a single individual from the district or county reached out to John Doe or his family in the immediate aftermath of the Child Line report, according to the lawsuit. Doe's family had to contact the school district by placing a call to Freed on or about May 21, 2018. On this date, Freed denied any knowledge of the assault despite the school's principal, Pardoe, being made aware of it on May 18, 2018, at the very latest, the suit said.
On or about May 30, 2018, Pardoe, Weber and Freed met with Doe's family at Pardoe's office. At this meeting, Doe described what happened to him and provided Weber and Pardoe the names of those involved, the suit contends.
Additionally, a video depicting the assault of Doe in possession of the district attorney's office was shown to Doe.
On May 31, 2018, according to the lawsuit, George Lepley wrote a letter addressed to Pardoe and McCann, regarding "Misconduct Myrtle Beach." In this letter, Lepley states that he was contacted by the parents of the perpetrator regarding "potential criminal charges" and was now representing him.
Furthermore, Lepley allegedly wrote to Pardoe and McCann that "a substantial number of players engaged in the exact same conduct" he then described as "inappropriate."
John Doe, therefore, is requesting all evidence be turned over and analyzed, including Pardoe's cell phone, all memory-data storage in regard to text messaging, SMS, MMS, emails, phone call logs, voice mails, photos and videos and more. Further, John Doe is seeking to analyze any desktop and laptop computer owned by Lycoming County and assigned to the District Attorney's Office and to Weber for all emails that reference the Williamsport High School Baseball Team.
"Once the district was contacted, a prompt investigation was completed and appropriate discipline was issued. In addition to the district's own investigation, the matter was investigated by outside agencies, including the Lycoming County District Attorney's office and law enforcement in Myrtle Beach," the district said in an earlier statement. "When contacted by Myrtle Beach authorities, the high school principal immediately referred them to the district attorney's office and the district's school resource officers, who serve with the Williamsport Bureau of Police. It is important to note that the district first became aware of this incident after law enforcement had already been contacted and a Child Line report made."