School Violence Expert Witnesses Opine on Sexual Abuse of Disabled Students

This case involves several special needs students who were sexually assaulted by other students in a school in Idaho. The victimized students suffered from a range of disabilities, including Autism and Down Syndrome. The Plaintiffs all had experienced being bullied and sexually assaulted by other students. There were several incidents of abuse over an extended period of time. It was alleged that the special needs program in which the victims were enrolled was grossly negligent, and created a culture of abuse without taking basic precautions to protect the health and safety of the disabled students.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

Do you have extensive experience working with special needs students?

Are you familiar with the proper steps in proper supervision of these students?

Are you familiar with proactive supervision?

Expert Witness Response E-022451

I have extensive experience working with special needs students and am intimately familiar with the proper steps and protocol to ensure proper supervision of special education students. I am familiar with proactive supervision, and I have served as an expert on numerous cases similar in scope to this one. This case represents a major breach in almost every standard of care and safety for working with disabled students. Faculty should have been monitoring these students far more closely, and taken proactive steps to prevent this sort of abuse.