KIRKWOOD — A former Kirkwood High School student alleged in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that she was sexually assaulted by a former math teacher.
The lawsuit comes amid a criminal investigation of another teacher and allegations of sexual abuse by teachers and coaches triggered by another former student's claims posted to a Kirkwood High alumni Facebook page in July.Â
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, says that David Shapleigh, a former math teacher and soccer coach, assaulted Carol Hotze Hermann.
Shapleigh could not be reached for comment and no lawyer for him was listed in court records. He is not facing any criminal charges related to the claim.
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In an interview with the Post-Dispatch earlier this summer, Hermann said she first met Shapleigh in the spring of 1984, when she was a junior. She said he was flirtatious and often wanted to walk her to her car after soccer practice. After one practice, he took her to his apartment, gave her alcohol, then told her he wanted to show her something in his bedroom.
The suit also named the school district, saying the district "has consistently worked to silence sexual abuse victims, cover up and conceal the sexual abuse of students by employees, and has allowed employees to resign after being accused of sexual abuse without documenting the employee’s personnel file, nor reporting the abuse to law enforcement or the proper legal authorities/agencies."
Both Hermann and her lawyer, Grant Boyd, said she has reported her allegations to police. Boyd said he and Hermann are disappointed by the goals of an ongoing school district investigation into sexual abuse allegations, saying there was nothing about reconciling with victims.
A spokeswoman said the district takes "any allegation of inappropriate behavior very seriously," citing the recent decision to retain a firm to investigate past reporting and handling of allegations of sexual abuse.
After Kirkwood, Shapleigh was a math teacher and assistant boys soccer coach at Westminster Christian Academy in Town and Country. Officials there said Shapleigh was hired on Aug. 1, 2018, and retired effective July 31. The school conducts background checks of new hires and has not received any allegations of impropriety from current or former Westminster students or staff, district officials said.