Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is asking a judge to order a woman to pay the school system a quarter of a million dollars after she sued them over the handling of an alleged sexual assault when she was a middle school student.
As our Nick Minock reports, the alleged victim, now 24 and pregnant, said this would cripple her financially and send a chilling message to sexual assault survivors.
We’re calling her “Kate” to protect her privacy. She’s expecting and admitted she did not have anything close to the money FCPS is seeking.
” It would be catastrophic,” said Kate. “It would essentially bankrupt me. I don’t have $250,000.”
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FCPS is asking a judge to order Kate to pay that quarter million dollars after she unsuccessfully sued FCPS over the way the school system handled her alleged sexual assault when she was just 12 years old.
“The message that I think the school board is trying to set is don’t come forward, don’t speak,” said Kate. “Otherwise, we will retaliate against you. We will intimidate you. We will use aggressive legal tactics to essentially bankrupt you. And I think that’s exactly the aim that the school board wants.”
Kate said that when she was in the seventh grade at Fairfax County’s Rachel Carson Middle School, she was sexually assaulted by multiple students.
“I was repeatedly sexually abused by peers,” said Kate. “And my school administrators, guidance counselors, teachers did not do anything to stop it, and it ensued years of just to cover up. In 2013, I filed an Office of Civil Rights complaint with the Department of Education, and it ensued a two-year investigation, which found that Fairfax was not complying with their Title IX requirements.”
When she sued FCPS, her attorney claimed the sexual harassment and unwanted touching happened at school and that school officials did not report her allegations of sexual harassment to the Title IX office.
At trial, FCPS’s attorneys argued that no staff members witnessed her being inappropriately touched at school and stated that 12-year-old Kate had invited one of the alleged abusers to have sex with her—a claim Kate denied.
In 2024, a jury sided with FCPS. Kate said she was outgunned during the trial.
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” I’m an individual,” said Kate. “I again am not a $4 billion institution. I know that they have spent millions of dollars on their attorneys.”
FCPS would not tell 7News how much they spent to fight Kate’s lawsuit, directing us to the district’s Freedom of Information office.
Last year, 7News submitted a FOIA for the court costs in this case, and FCPS said 7News could have them, but it would cost over $1,700 for the labor to prepare that information.
We also asked why they’re asking a judge to order Kate to pay $250,000. FCPS said they take guardianship of taxpayer dollars seriously.
FCPS sent 7News this statement:
“As a publicly funded body, Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) takes proper guardianship of taxpayer dollars seriously. The complainant of this baseless lawsuit stemming from allegations more than a decade ago was seeking $22 million of those taxpayer dollars in damages. We always believed our staff acted professionally and with compassion in the circumstances that led to this lawsuit, which were also investigated by police at the time. After a five-week trial, a jury agreed with us. We are seeking to recoup certain legal costs related to the trial. Court costs differ from attorney fees, which we are not seeking to recoup. These funds would be returned to their true intent — educating our students. To be clear, we believe we should be held accountable if things go awry. This was not one of those times.”