CONCORD, N.H. — The family of a girl who was sexually assaulted at a boarding school in New Hampshire has filed a lawsuit against the school.
The girl was sexually assaulted by Owen Labrie, another student at the St. Paul’s School during a tradition among male seniors called the “Senior Salute”, in which the males compete to have the most sexual encounters with female students.
The family’s lawsuit alleges that St. Paul’s administrators knew about the competition and failed to stop it, therefore resulting in the sexual assault.
[ >>READ MORE: Full complaint filed by lawyers for sexual assault victim ]
The victim’s family also says she was harassed after reporting the assault and the school did nothing to protect her.
"St. Paul's fostered a culture of misogyny and male privilege that deprived its female students of the safe and healthy educational environment they would expect from one of the nation's premier private schools," said lead counsel Steve Kelly of the Baltimore law firm Silverman|Thompson|Slutkin|White. "Administrators ignored the health, safety and welfare of the children entrusted to their care, and turned their favorite motto on its head rather than 'freedom with responsibility,' administrators held themselves and the students to the standard 'freedom from responsibility.'"