Olathe student sues district one year after alleged sexual assault by former teacher
A former Olathe East High School student who alleges he was locked in a classroom and sexually assaulted by a former teacher is suing the school district.
The lawsuit alleges Justin R. Adrian, 34, assaulted the teen who was “horrified, scared and in shock” on September 7, 2018.
Adrian also faces a criminal charge of unlawful sexual relations. A plea hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday, but his attorney Lindsey Erickson said they will request a continuance. She had no further comment on Adrian’s criminal case.
The student isn’t identified in the civil lawsuit which was filed Thursday in Johnson County District Court.
The lawsuit alleges the school district engaged in negligence by failing to keep a student safe on school premises. Olathe Public Schools spokesman Cody Kennedy said the district doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
In a statement, the student’s family said the past year has been a difficult period.
“To think that a trusted high school teacher could do this to a child at school sickens and saddens us,” the family said. “We hope to be a part of efforts to prevent our horrible ordeal from happening again to any other Olathe student.”
Shortly after the beginning of the student’s senior year, Adrian contacted him on the social media site Grindr and messaged him, “I shouldn’t be chatting with you. A bit of a conflict,” the lawsuit said.
On September 7, 2018, Adrian sent several messages to the student instructing him to come to his classroom. The student obeyed and Adrian sexually assaulted him for several minutes, the lawsuit alleges.
Adrian then wrote a pass for the student so he could be late to his sixth-hour class.
The student told a friend and his family about the incident and his mother took him to a hospital to get a rape kit processed.
Adrian was employed by the district from 2011 to September 2018 as a social studies teacher and was in charge of the Gay-Straight LGBTQ Club.
According to the lawsuit, Adrian used the position bestowed upon him by the district to groom the student to be his sexual assault victim.
“Olathe East was aware of how Mr. Adrian was involved with students, and that the students held him in a position of trust because the district placed him in that position,” the lawsuit said.
It continued by saying the school district had a duty to supervise its employee who maintained a special relationship over students, but failed.
