A now-convicted pedophile raped a freshman while he was a teacher in a West Virginia school district. That district and the school’s former principal are now facing a lawsuit for allegedly “turned a blind eye” to the ongoing abuse.
Ronald Paul Harris, who is now 63, admitted in criminal court to molesting a 14-year-old student while he was a history teacher and basketball coach at Oak Glen Middle School in Hancock County.
The survivor, who is now 27 and listed in court documents as E.H., sued Harris, the school board and then-middle school principal David Smith, who has since been promoted to high school principal, in civil court, claiming that school officials had failed to protect her.
Her lawyers told Fox News Digital in a statement Harris may have abused other students, and hope their client’s “courage” inspires other survivors to come forward.
“This case is a parent’s worst nightmare,” said Mary Pat Statler, who is representing E.H. and her parents, along with P. Zachary Stewart.
“To learn that your child was groomed and sexually abused by a teacher is beyond awful. It’s made even more terrible knowing that the administrator at the time of the abuse was in a position to stop the abuse or prevent future instances of abuse and instead turned a blind eye.”
Harris pleaded guilty in September in criminal court to sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust and is serving a 10- to-20-year prison sentence and must register as a sex offender. As part of the deal, five other felony charges were dropped.
E.H., who was 14 at the time of the abuse, became Harris’ “teacher’s aide” and would help him grade papers after her high school classes let out, according to the lawsuit.
To go from the high school to the middle school, E.H. had to “sign in,” which created a record of her visits with Harris. She signed in at least 10 times, according to the lawsuit.
