Why were victims left out of Myers Park investigation into rape cases?
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Title IX complaints in CMS
From lawsuits at Myers Park High to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reassigning administrators amid controversy, this is the latest on sexual assault cases and Title IX issues in the district.
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Two former Myers Park High students who filed lawsuits, and a third who reported being raped in a boy’s bathroom stall on campus, weren’t included in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ recent investigation into how administrators handled past sexual assault cases.
“There’s a lot that went wrong in this investigation ... if you could even call it that,” said Serena Evans, who was 15 when she and her mother reported in 2016 she’d been raped at school.
“No one from CMS reached out to me. No victims were interviewed. I feel angry, hurt and betrayed.”
District officials have yet to release any information publicly about the recent investigation, which spanned close to three months and centered on former Myers Park Principal Mark Bosco, who was suspended with pay.
Bosco has been reassigned away from the school, to a district senior administrator role, officials said Wednesday. Through his attorney, he’s denied any wrongdoing.
The now-complete CMS investigation at Myers Park was done by district human resource employees. By not interviewing students to evaluate accusations against Bosco and others, the review stops short of what would constitute a Title IX investigation into assaults or harassment, based on federal guidelines.
Myers Park cases
Past and former students, including two who filed Title IX lawsuits over the last three years, have accused Bosco and other school officials of not taking steps to boost safety on campus. Title IX is a part of federal education law, passed in 1972, that prohibits discrimination based on sex and requires that schools thoroughly investigate harassment or sexual violence reports from students or staff.
In the instance of one female student who reported being sexually assaulted at Myers Park in 2015, a federal Title IX investigation two years later found some shortcomings in how the school handled her case. While investigators generally found in the district’s favor, The Charlotte Observer reported previously that the federal review found the district had not hired a Title IX coordinator despite an earlier warning they were not in compliance with law.
The lawsuit in that case — the victim listed as Jane Doe — is still pending. A judge, in deciding whether to throw the case out or not, has said there’s some evidence to back up Doe’s claims that an ex-school resource officer did not act quickly enough as she texted friends she was being assaulted in the woods near school.
In Evans’ case, an investigation by The Charlotte Observer in July found issues with how Bosco and an assistant principal responded to her report of being raped by a football player. It’s not clear whether a mandatory internal investigation was done at the school in 2016 and CMS officials have refused to give details.
In the earliest of the cases, brought by former student Nikki Wombwell, the district paid a $50,000 settlement. Wombwell says she was raped in the nearby woods in late 2014 and dissuaded from pursuing criminal charges because Bosco told her she could be punished for having sex at school — which Bosco has denied.
The Observer is including the name of sexual assault survivors who have agreed to have their names used.
Following a protest and other Myers Park students coming forward saying they experienced sexual harassment or violence at the school, the Observer reported on July 23 that the district’s obligations under federal law likely would require a fresh Title IX investigation into whether issues went unchecked by campus leadership. Two weeks later, Bosco was suspended and the district launched an internal investigation.
Bosco and his attorney have maintained he followed district policies and federal laws pertaining to school-based response to reports of sexual assault and harassment. With the internal investigation over, Bosco’s attorney told the Observer the district found no proof Bosco mishandled or failed to respond to any allegation of sexual misconduct across his 8-year tenure at the school.
But while sources confirmed to the Observer more than a dozen staff members at Myers Park were interviewed, several former students — who all say they were victims of sexual violence at school — said the district never contacted them for their side of the story.
“You can hardly call it an investigation if you only ever speak to one side. It’s like conducting a criminal investigation and only talking to the defendant,” Wombwell said.
Wombwell graduated in 2017 and reported to several school employees in late 2014 that she’d been raped after a male student brought a gun to school and threatened to shoot himself if she didn’t agree to meet with him after class. According to a lawsuit she filed almost five years later — under the pseudonym Jill Roe — Wombwell was taken into the woods on the Myers Park campus and sexually assaulted.
“I was 15 and traumatized,” Wombwell said. “I trusted Bosco, and he turned me away. I deserve to tell the investigator my side of the story.”
According to court documents, Bosco and a police officer who worked at Myers Park High at the time, did not see enough evidence in Wombwell’s case for a criminal investigation.
Laura Dunn, who represents Wombwell and Jane Doe told the Observer: “There has been no communication by CMS about anything.”
On Thursday, CMS officials did not respond to questions surrounding the investigation. Patrick Smith, the assistant superintendent of communications, told the Observer: “CMS does not provide confidential personnel information, including information or documents related to personnel investigations.”
Multiple school board members did respond to the Observer, saying they could not comment and “any discussion of an investigation is a violation of personnel law.”
Thelma Byers-Bailey, the vice-chairperson of the school board, did respond to a question regarding Bosco’s reassignment but not the investigation’s findings, saying “I agree with this outcome.”
‘Nobody ever replied’
Even with the investigation over, for many there’s not closure.
Adding to criticism of CMS’ response to sexual assault cases, students at Olympic High earlier this month staged a walk-out protest after learning that a male student criminally charged with sexual assault was allowed to play in a recent football game while wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor. In response, several volleyball players at Olympic were suspended from a game as punishment for participating in the protest — a decision that’s also led to widespread criticism.
The Observer has reported that the football player’s charges stemmed from an off-campus reported sexual crime and proceeded a case of a second Olympic student, a 15-year-old, who was charged last month after a female student reported to police she’d been raped at school.
Evans said about the recent sexual assault at Olympic: “It infuriates me that this happened to yet again another girl on a CMS campus. A place where we are supposed to be safe and protected, and weren’t.”
Students at both Olympic and Myers Park say training on what to do and how to report a sexual crime or harassment on campus was spotty at the start of this school year. Over the summer, when Myers Park became embroiled over the issue, Superintendent Earnest Winston vowed to make that training more comprehensive — which is also a part of K-12 school Title IX legal obligations.
Still, a local counselor who has worked with Myers Park families says clients are telling her “there has been little to no Title IX training this year.”
Counselor Diana Levitt called the end of the investigation into Bosco’s actions “only one step on a larger journey.”
“I would like to see CMS do more in terms of training staff on Title IX regulations and educating students on Title IX rights and reporting,” she said.
Winston also announced in August the creation of the Title IX Task Force. The task force consists of 17 members, including a diverse group of 11 high school students representing all six CMS learning communities.
The task force, which has already met, will hold more sessions. School officials said the meetings will remain private to “protect student confidentiality, empower student participants to share their voices and drive conversations and allow the team to work without disruption or public pressure.”
Wombwell says nobody replied to an email letter she sent Aug. 11 to school board members after hearing Bosco was on a paid suspension and an investigation was underway.
“I ask that whoever you have hired or plan to hire for the investigation into Mark Bosco and the Myers Park administration please interview me and the other survivors,” Wombwell wrote. “It is impossible for your investigation to properly determine whether he reacted appropriately without speaking to the victims.”
Students like Aidan Finnell, a Myers Park junior, say they want to hold CMS administrators accountable. Finnell said she’s not a victim of sexual assault on campus but has been sexually harassed.
Evans, Wombwell and Finnell have organized a Support Survivors event for 6 p.m., Oct. 21 at First Ward Park in Charlotte.
“I demand a real, unbiased, external investigation that actually includes the voices of survivors and our parents,” said Wombwell, who started a website called amplifysurvivors.com with the goal of championing the voices of survivors of K-12 sexual violence in the conversation around Title IX policy and sexual education.
“K-12 sexual violence is so prevalent and the survivors are so under supported. We deserve better.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2021 at 10:10 AM.
