Parents of a former Seneca Valley High School student have filed a federal lawsuit claiming their son became the target of five "Mean Girls" at the school who conspired to accuse him of multiple counts of sexual assault.
According to the lawsuit filed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 'mean girls' "conspired in person and via electronic communication devices to falsely accuse T.F. of sexual assault on two occasions."
The boy, who is only identified as T.F. in the lawsuit, was "forced to endure multiple court appearances, detention in a juvenile facility, detention at home, the loss of his liberty and other damages until several of the girls reluctantly admitted that their accusations were false" over the summer.
The boy's parents say T.F. was bullied by other classmates on multiple occasions, citing one example when students wrote the word "PREDATOR" on some masking tape, and placed it on his back during choir practice.
The lawsuit also alleges that T.F. was damaged by "Gender bias" at the school after officials there did not take any "action against the females involved" when the allegations were discovered to be falsified.
"(T.F.) was basically being tortured in school by the other students and investigators, but the administration was only focused on protecting the girls who were lying," attorney Craig Fishman told PennLive. "Once the allegations were proven false, they really didn't care one bit about T.F. and there has been absolutely no repercussions against the girls."
Fishman says T.F. is now being home-schooled after his experience.
The first allegation against T.F. came in July 2017 while he was working at a local swimming pool as a lifeguard. Another teenage girl, referred to as K.S. in the lawsuit, accused T.F. of assaulting her at the pool. Those claims were corroborated by a former Seneca Valley High School female student, who is friends with K.S.
T.F. was charged in juvenile court with indecent assault and two counts of harassment. He pleaded not guilty, and was put on probation and required to stay out of trouble for six months.
However, during a tape-recorded interview taken with school officials in 2017 obtained by Fishman, K.S. is allegedly heard to say she made the sexual assault claim against T.F. because "I just don't like him."
"I just don't like to hear him talk ... I don't like to look at him," K.S. says in the recording according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit goes on to state that K.S. told other classmates that "she would do anything to get T.F. expelled."
In March, another friend of K.S. and Villegas, identified as C.S., reported to a school counselor that T.F. had assaulted her while he was walking her home. Those allegations were supported by two other friends, identified as E.S. and H.R. in the lawsuit filing. T.F. was charged with indecent assault, criminal trespass, and simple assault in April.
"On April 10, TF was removed from class at Seneca Valley High School and placed in leg and wrist shackles by the Jackson Township Police with the assistance of Juvenile Probation Officer Michael Trego," the lawsuit stated.
The allegations against T.F. began to fall apart in May when three of the witnesses against him admitted to officials they had lied. Based on the new information, the district attorney's office sought an order dismissing all charges against T.F. due to the false reports.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.