Mom sues CCSD, says nonverbal child was abused
The mother of a nonverbal autistic student is suing the Clark County School District over an alleged battery by his teacher.
In September 2019, her eighth grade son suddenly began coming home from Saville Middle School with bruises, and once home, he would punch through walls, have frequent meltdowns and pinch his parents, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court by a mother who used the pseudonym “Grace Doe” in the complaint. It lists CCSD and teacher Melissa Farnsworth as defendants.
The complaint said the student’s behavior “deteriorated” after joining Farnsworth’s classroom, and it accuses her of abuse.
The school district said it does not comment on pending litigation, a CCSD spokesperson said in an email Wednesday.
The Review-Journal also contacted a teacher with the same name as the defendant but she declined to comment.
When the parents became increasingly worried and brought concerns to the assistant principal, the assistant principal blamed the boy’s behavior on hormones and suggested he was always aggressive, the lawsuit said.
As the student continued to come home with bruises and his behavior worsened, his parents removed him from the school.
In August 2023, the mother was picking up her younger child from the same middle school when a campus hall monitor came up to her and began discussing her older son’s experiences in Farnsworth’s class, according to the complaint.
The staff member alleged that Farnsworth had provoked and abused the student, and lied about the boy’s behavior because she did not like him.
She also alleged that Farnsworth had pinched the student and would bind and restrain his hands and force him to attend physical education when he resisted.
But when the principal learned of the alleged incident and asked for a written statement from the staff member, she “recanted,” the complaint said.
The CCSD Police Department investigated the incident before closing it due to a lack of evidence. The complaint said that the officer did not contact Farnsworth or any other staff members during the investigation.
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com.
