Survivors allege Baltimore school district ‘enabled and facilitated’ sexual abuse

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Three former Baltimore City Public Schools students have filed lawsuits against the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, alleging the school district allowed a special education teacher to sexually abuse them as teenagers in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

MAJOR UPDATE: Baltimore judge orders temporary stay of Child Victims Act cases

In complaints filed Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court, Pamela Coleman, Collette Lee and Colette Alston allege the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners “enabled and facilitated” their sexual abuse by Alvin Hunt, a former special education teacher at Calverton Junior High School.

The three women contend the school district had knowledge of Hunt’s sexual misconduct yet placed him in a position of trust and authority over students. The women allege Hunt used his position to groom them for sexual abuse by purchasing them food and gifts and luring them off school grounds by offering extra credit and tutoring at his house in Baltimore.

Coleman alleges Hunt offered her a cigarette at his house “covertly laced with an illicit substance,” causing her to lose consciousness, when she was 14 years old. When she regained awareness, Coleman says, Hunt raped her and impregnated her.

Though both Coleman’s mother and Alston reported Hunt’s actions to the school district, the district did not investigate Hunt and continued to employ him, according to the lawsuits.

“This abuse was not just known — it was normalized. This wasn’t hidden — it was tolerated,” Janai Woodhouse, co-counsel for the three plaintiffs, said during a news conference Monday. “BCPS created the conditions that allowed this abuse to happen. They failed to investigate, they failed to act and they failed to protect minors in its care.”

A spokesperson for Baltimore City Public Schools said the school district employed Hunt from December 1975 until he retired in October 2005, and from December 2010 until June 2019 when he returned as a substitute teacher.

“Due to the ongoing legal proceedings and out of respect for the privacy and rights of all individuals involved, especially our students, we are unable to comment further,” the spokesperson said in an email Monday.

Hunt could not be reached for comment, and a spokesperson for the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office declined to comment on whether the office is currently investigating or has plans to indict Hunt.

William Murphy, Jr., co-counsel for the plaintiffs, said Friday’s lawsuits were filed under the Child Victims Act, which ended the statute of limitations on lawsuits against the institutions that enabled abusers, allowing victims to come forward late in life.

So far, thousands of survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Maryland have filed civil lawsuits against institutions that facilitated their alleged abuse, with the Maryland Supreme Court narrowly upholding the 2023 legislation earlier this year.

Coleman, who gave birth to her daughter following Hunt’s assault, said Baltimore City Public Schools were aware of her pregnancy but did not help her.

“My childhood … was just ripped from me and I was forced to become a woman,” Coleman said Monday. “The school system failed me as a child entrusted in their care.”

Lee, another of the plaintiffs, said Hunt lured her and another special education student to his home, where Hunt cornered her, pinned her to the wall and attempted to rape her. Though Lee managed to escape, she said she has suffered emotional distress from Hunt’s actions.

“I was able to run home, and I’ve been running for a long time,” Lee said. “I’m tired, and I want justice.”

Lee said Baltimore City Public Schools allowed Hunt’s abuse.

“Baltimore City schools allowed a man, a teacher, to violate little girls,” Lee said. “We were just going to school. I didn’t ask for nobody to touch me — I was just going to school.”

The lawsuits allege counts of intentional tort ratification, gross negligence, negligence for sexual abuse, constructive fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation and fraud, and punitive damages against the school district.

Murphy said he hopes more people will come forward following the filing of Friday’s lawsuits, which may be consolidated.