Jane Doe’s mother told a jury on Wednesday that she might have done things differently today if she had received the same, terrifying text messages from her daughter.
When an alleged sexual assault occurred at Myers Park High School on November 3, 2015, Ms. Doe was in shock and did not want to scare her youngest daughter in the car at the time. The first text message: “Mom, I’m being kidnapped.”
Ms. Doe, so named in court to protect her and Jane Doe’s identities, said that’s why she didn’t call 9-1-1, and decided to drive and try to find her oldest daughter, who is a Myers Park High junior was at that time.
The mother testified Wednesday at the Charlotte federal courthouse, where U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad was presiding over a case involving kidnapping and sexual assault charges, as well as how Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials and a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer responded to the incident. Doe alleges that school administrators and police mishandled her on-campus sexual assault report.
Doe’s attorneys allege that an inadequate investigation led to violations of Title IX. Defense officials thoroughly investigated the incident, followed procedure and believed that the incident between Jane Doe and an 18-year-old man was consensual.
Ms. Doe, a therapist and educator, told jurors her daughter’s experiences with boys “were limited because she didn’t drive and we had to drop her off at places like Olive Garden.”
Doe sent a deluge of texts to her mother on the morning of November 3, 2015. One text said, “All I know is I’m scared…. I told him I didn’t want to do this.”
Another said: “Don’t call me I’m scared.”
A third said, “I was attacked.”
‘Not how to treat a rape victim’
Doe claims officials did not take “immediate” action after seeing her led into the woods on the school grounds by the 18-year-old male student. Doe says she was eventually picked up by the school resource officer near the woods, where she told the officer she was forced to perform oral sex. She claims that school officials prevented her from launching a criminal investigation, and that CMS failed to address reports of harassment by female students at Myers Park High.
Ms Doe testified on Wednesday that there was little communication from school officials and the officer about the alleged assault after it happened and that they believed she was playing truant. Ms Doe said she received no school inquiry outcome other than “they said nothing happened”.
“I said, that’s no way to treat a rape victim,” Ms. Doe recalled.
Ms Doe said she took her daughter to hospital for a sexual assault exam on the day of the incident. She also took her after the incident because her daughter complained of ear, throat and neck pain. She was prescribed painkillers. During that week, Jane Doe expressed suicidal thoughts. So she also received mental health care.
Ms Doe said she received a voicemail on 4 November from former Myers Park High Principal Mark Bosco letting her know he had “interesting information to give me and to talk about the outcome”. She remembered that he sounded “cheerful.”
“I never called him back,” Ms Doe said on Wednesday. “I wasn’t able… They found out it was reciprocal sexual contact.”
Bosco was suspended in the summer of 2021 and eventually reassigned to a position as senior administrator for extended learning and partnerships in CMS in October 2021.
Defense questions Doe’s mother
An attorney representing the defendants attempted to punch holes in Ms. Doe’s testimony, asking her if she had emailed Bosco two days after his voicemail refusing to allow her daughter to make a statement.
Mrs. Doe confirmed that she did.
The defense asked Ms. Doe how she expected CMS to conduct an investigation if she did not allow her daughter to make a statement. They also asked her if she knew that the 18-year-old man had used violence.
Under a section of the federal education law commonly referred to as Title IX, campus sexual assault is considered a form of sexual harassment, which federally funded school systems like CMS must address when complaints arise. CMS officers are also required to investigate reports of school sexual assault.
The defense also asked Ms. Doe why she did not speak to her daughter about what happened in the woods until July 2020.
“I wanted her to come to me when she was ready,” Mrs. Doe said. “I told her I love you and I believe you.”
Lawyers for CMS and the City of Charlotte allege that Jane Doe and the 18-year-old texted back and forth about sex before Nov. 23, 2015 because “Jane Doe was curious.” The teens also texted about skipping school, the defense attorney said.
Doe is seeking compensation for damages, including physical and psychological pain, suffering, impairment, lost wages, loss of educational opportunity, attorney’s fees, costs and “further assistance required by law enforcement,” according to the claim.
Also Wednesday, Doe’s attorneys read a statement from former Myers Park High student Jill Roe. Roe alleged that school administrators and a police officer assigned to the campus mishandled her 2014 rape report in the woods next to Myers Park High. Roe sued in December 2019 and the case settled for $50,000 in spring 2022.
