Former special education student sues school district and aide over alleged sexual assault

A former special education student who was allegedly sexually assaulted by his special education aide is suing the woman accused of the sexual crimes as well as the Scott County R-IV School District.

Kristin R. Kirker, 27 years old at the time, was charged in November with two counts of sexual contact with a student, a Class E felony.

The lawsuit accuses Kirker and seeks compensation for childhood sexual abuse, battery, assault, false imprisonment and invasion of privacy.

The lawsuit seeks compensation from the school district for negligence and breach of ministerial duties; violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act; negligent infliction of emotional distress; negligence and breach of ministerial duty to provide aid to the plaintiff; and negligence per se.

The plaintiff is listed as “John Doe” to protect the minor’s identity. Attorneys John P. Clubb and Laura Clubb represent the plaintiff. The suit was filed in the circuit court of Scott County, Missouri.

Superintendent of schools Bradley J. Kolwyck said in an email Thursday that the district had not yet been served and "is not in a position to comment on student matters or pending litigation."

The lawsuit accuses the district of personnel having suspicion of inappropriate interactions between the plaintiff and defendant, but not appropriately investigating the behavior. The lawsuit describes Kirker as grooming the student for sexual activity, using her authority and power to do so. Kirker asked for the student’s phone number during baseball season, the PC statement said, followed by the exchanging of sexually explicit photos. Kirker and the student allegedly had sex in the student’s bedroom, according to a probable cause statement issued in the case. The probable cause statement describes Kirker, the aide, as being left alone in a classroom with the victim, at which time the teacher’s aide performed oral sex on him.

The victim was a special education student who had an individualized education plan (IEP) for an impairment that affected his language in the area of semantics, morphology, and syntax, along with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. The student’s condition caused him to have “a vocabulary more limited than those of students who do not have the impairment,” the lawsuit claims. Kirker was the special education aide assigned to implement the victim’s IEP, the lawsuit explains.

Because of the teacher/student dynamic, “the victim was not free to leave the defendant’s control on the Kelly High School campus,” the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit says the school district neglected to adequately supervise the defendant and failed to follow its policies and procedures.

Kirker is not the only Kelly teacher facing sexual abuse allegations.

Lindsey Limbaugh also faces one charge of sexual contact with a student. She was a special education teacher.

“Unbeknownst to students and parents, the district was employing two individuals who were raping, sodomizing, abusing and hurting vulnerable students in the district’s special education classes,” the lawsuit claims in its introduction. “The district knew or should have known that two sexual predators posed a risk to students, staff and the public. The district and its administrators failed to appropriately supervise these sexual predators and continued to employ them despite the red flags and warning signs that something was terribly wrong and that students were being harmed.”

In a news release, attorney John P. Clubb, said “Our public schools have a duty, not just to educate our students, but to provide them a safe environment to learn. The Scott County R-IV School District was utterly derelict in its duty to protect the victim from sexual abuse. This suit was filed to hold these parties accountable and to ensure that no other students are sexually assaulted by their teachers or staff.”