FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) – A former elementary school principal has defeated a lawsuit that blamed him for the sexual abuse of one of his students by an older child.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Feb. 5 ruled for Charles Browning, the former principal at Chavies Elementary in Perry County. The lawsuit, brought by the mother of a student known by his initials in court papers, said a special needs seventh-grader started performing vile acts on the boy when he was in kindergarten.
The abuse – which included fondling, inserting a finger into the boy’s rectum and oral sex acts in the bathroom - continued into their next school year, but Browning has defeated liability for his alleged role.
Browning noted he left his position at Chavies in spring 2013, but the victim’s mother did not become aware of the abuse until September of that year.
“Here, Browning was not merely enforcing a rule, as the record reflects that the school did not have a policy in place regarding bathroom procedures or supervision of students while in the bathroom,” Judge Denise Clayton wrote.
“Rather, such was a discretionary task utilizing judgment in the method of supervising the children in relation to addressing C.E.B.’s disciplinary problems. Because the facts of this case establish that the issue in this case was the means of supervision – even if there might be a legitimate disagreement regarding the means used – rather than a failure to supervise, Browning’s actions were discretionary…”
Because of this, and because the plaintiff failed to show unreasonableness on the part of his discretion, Browning is entitled to qualified immunity, the decision says.