An Oahu Circuit Court judge has awarded more than $14 million to a former McKinley High School special education student who was repeatedly sexually abused by several boys at the school over a three-year period.
The abuse began when the student, who is said to have the cognitive ability of a 5-year-old, was in the ninth grade in 2008 and continued until she was in the 11th grade, according to a lawsuit filed by the woman, now 28, and her mother against the Department of Education and the state.
The former student, identified in the lawsuit as A.H., became psychotic in her senior year in the fall of 2011 and was hospitalized for three months at The Queen’s Medical Center.
Numerous teachers and administrators who were aware of the sexual abuse are named in Judge Jeff Crabtree’s 51-page findings of fact and order filed Wednesday, nearly seven months after more than 30 witnesses testified in a 66-day nonjury trial that ended Feb. 11.
“I’ve been practicing law for 40 years and never have I seen the kind of callousness that this school, teachers and administrators have shown to A.H. and her mother,” said Eric Ferrer, an attorney representing the former student and her mother. “This is the most outrageous conduct I’ve seen by teachers and school administrators.”
Joining Ferrer in representing the plaintiffs were attorneys Susan Dorsey and William Meheula, who all advocated for A.H. and her mother for 10 years and finally prevailed.
Eight psychologists and psychiatrists testified the former student is cognitively disabled and therefore unable to consent to sex, her lawyers said, versus testimony by a single psychologist for the state who refused to give an opinion on the matter.
Ferrer said school officials lied to the girl’s mother about what was going on and failed to inform her of the sexual abuse. He said some of her teachers dismissed rumors of the abuse and failed to investigate, claiming A.H. was “boy crazy.”
The attorney said she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result and is unable to benefit from therapy because of her cognitive limitations.
“They stole her childhood and replaced it with an incurable disease,” Ferrer said.
Crabtree awarded $7.93 million for medical and treatment costs related to A.H.’s sexual trauma, included $7 million in expected costs for employing an aide to assist her over her lifetime.
“The court finds it reasonable and necessary since she has specific needs due to PTSD, fears and risk of psychosis if she is triggered by even random-seeming events based on A.H.’s life expectancy of 57 years,” the judge’s findings said.
She was also awarded $4 million in general damages, including compensation for the sexual abuse. Her mother was awarded $2.1 million for her own mental health treatment and damages.
The actual amount to be paid by the state and DOE will be closer to $10 million based on apportionment of responsibility for the trauma suffered by A.H.
“What is so disheartening is that after all this conduct, none of the boys were investigated or disciplined. They felt like there were no consequences for this conduct,” Ferrer said.
Two of the boys accused of sexually assaulting A.H. were later convicted of sexual offenses in unrelated cases and have served time in prison, he said. Another male who reportedly raped A.H. in her freshman year is serving 16 years to life in a Colorado prison for another rape, according to Ferrer.
