Christian school tells 12-year-old rape victim to ‘turn the other cheek’

(This story contains graphic descriptions that may be upsetting to some readers) An exclusive Christian school in a wealthy Tennessee suburb is being accused of covering up the repeated sexual abuse of a 12-year-old boy. Now, the school is being sued for $60 million by the boy’s mother, reports the Tennessean.

According to the lawsuit, from 2014 to 2015 four male students at Brentwood Academy in Williamson County, Tennessee, “conspired to engage in male on male sexual harassment, sexual assault and/or rape upon John Doe in the locker room not supervised by an adult,” adding that one of the students “would place his penis before John Doe and forcibly penetrated it into the mouth of Plaintiff John Doe without consenting claiming ‘eat it, eat it, eat it, open your mouth, accept it.”

The same student also allegedly bragged that he “f*cked that boy up the ass and stuck a Gatorade bottle in him.”

The school’s headmaster, Curtis G. Masters, allegedly told the victim to “turn the other cheek” and that everything in God’s kingdom happens for a reason.” He also allegedly brushed off the assaults as “boys being boys” and claimed he couldn’t effectively run a school and look into the allegations at the same time.

When the mother threatened to go to the police, she was allegedly told by the boy’s counselor that “this isn’t how Christian institutions handle these things.”

From the Tennessean:

When school administrators were approached by the boy’s mother about the attacks, the lawsuit states that the boy’s private counselor, a former Brentwood Academy employee, shied away from reporting the abuse to authorities, saying “this isn’t how Christian institutions handle these things.”

In addition to Masters, middle school director Nancy Brasher, administrator and middle school athletic director Buddy Alexander, assistant basketball coach Lyle Husband and sixth-grade basketball coach Mike Vazquez, who is also Masters’ son-in-law, are named as individual defendants in the suit.

In a statement to the Tennessean, Brentwood Academy said that the safety and protection of students is their “highest priority.”

“We take any allegation involving our students very seriously,” the statement read. “We responded immediately and fully cooperated with authorities when we became aware of concerns in 2015. We are obligated to maintain confidentiality in any legal matter. Out of respect for all parties involved, and based on the advice of our legal counsel, we are unable to discuss details at this time.”

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Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.