An Oakland County family has filed suit against a Catholic elementary school in Clawson, alleging their son was sexually harassed by other students several times while enrolled at the school, and assaulted last year while the child was in the school bathroom.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court, also alleges that administrators at Guardian Angels Catholic School and officials with the Archdiocese of Detroit failed to properly investigate the bathroom incident after the victim reported it.

The family said the bullying caused their son so much distress “that he began expressing suicidal ideation and required immediate therapeutic interventions …,” according to the complaint.

A series of allegations

The lawsuit alleges that the harassment began in March 2022, when the boy was in second grade and another student grabbed his penis during class. The boy reported the incident to a teacher, who reported it to the principal.

However, the school and the archdiocese didn’t offer any “supportive measures” to the victim and the principal and an archdiocese reverend didn’t respond after the child’s parent attempted to contact them. The suit also claims the boy’s teacher at that time told his mother that he “seemingly does not stick up for himself.”

In March 2024, a different student was “continuously touching” the victim, including on his inner thigh, according to the lawsuit. Both boys were sent to the principal’s office, where Principal Stephen Turk “threatened both students with suspension if they could not figure out how to get along.”

Turk didn’t contact the victim’s parents and no one at the school tried to separate the boys, the suit alleges. Moreover, the students’ teacher “forced” them to sit next to one another in class.

The victim was later suspended for talking during class, though his parents allege that he was verbally trying to defend himself from being bullied and harassed.

On April 17, 2024, another student allegedly assaulted the victim while both were in a school bathroom.

The family said a sixth-grade student put their fourth-grade son in a chokehold and telling him he was going to rape him.

The victim reported the attack to his teacher and was sent to the principal’s office, where staff denied his request to call his parents. The victim was eventually made to return to class where he again was told he couldn’t call home, even after complaining that he was in pain.

The boy’s parents allege that school staff reported the incident to the Clawson Police Department about an hour and a half before they were contacted. Turk also is accused of telling police the victim had “embellished stories in the past,” even though the other student had admitted to putting the boy in a chokehold and “poking” him.

After the boy’s parents questioned the principal about the incident, Turk allegedly lied and told them the boy who attacked their son had been suspended.

The parents also contacted the archdiocese, and the Rev. Anthony Richter downplayed the situation, characterizing the incident as “just a game” and “a slap on the butt.”

Family seeks damages

Named as codefendants are the school, the archdiocese; Turk, Richter; Archbishop Allen Vigneron; Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin; teacher Erika Smithson; and Tony Latarski, the archdiocese’s victim assistance coordinator.

Though the plaintiffs and the school are in Oakland County, the lawsuit was filed in Wayne County because the archdiocese is headquartered in Detroit.

In a joint statement, the archdiocese and Guardian Angels said, “The school followed all school and Archdiocese of Detroit policies, including reporting the allegation to law enforcement.”

The entities said Clawson police “investigated the allegation and submitted its report to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office on June 11, 2024. No criminal charges were authorized.”

Neither student was enrolled at Guardian Angels for the current school year, the statement said.

An Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson, as well as Turk and Smithson, didn’t immediately return emails seeking comment.

The boy’s family said he has since transferred schools. They say he now suffers feelings of sadness, has angry outbursts at home and is self-isolating at his new school.

The family is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, plus attorney fees and court costs.