CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Capital High School student who claims she was raped on campus in January filed suit against the Kanawha County Board of Education and former principal Clinton Giles on Wednesday.
The 15-year-old student, in a complaint filed in Kanawha County Circuit Court, states the school’s policies and procedures were inadequate to protect the safety of students against assaults.
The student said she told a counselor she had been raped under a campus stairwell on Jan. 26. The counselor then told Giles that afternoon, who didn’t alert authorities until the following day.
The student claimed Giles was trying to “protect and shield” the suspect, 17-year-old Dallas King, by delaying the report to police. In the lawsuit, the girl said Giles knew King had “previously sexually assaulted another female at the school” and knew he was a “direct threat to female students at the school.”
King pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual abuse in March, but later asked a judge to withdraw his plea.
The victim said she suffered humiliation, embarrassment, distress and anxiety after the incident and had to seek medical and mental treatment.
Giles was charged with failing to immediately report the crime. That charge was dismissed in March after Giles retired.