DAMASCUS, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools will pay almost $10 million to settle lawsuits brought by four former Damascus High School football players who said they were sexually assaulted by teammates with broomsticks in 2018, an attorney for one of the victims told WUSA9.
The lawsuits were filed in 2020 against Montgomery County Public Schools, two former Damascus administrators, and two former members of the high school's football coaching staff.
Prominent civil rights attorney Billy Murphy Jr. filed the lawsuit on behalf of three of the four students assaulted, following the conclusion of the attackers' criminal cases. The suits allege that the school board and employees at Damascus High School knew about the longstanding tradition of sexual assault in the football program.
"This is one of the most extraordinary incidents to ever happen at a public school," Murphy said. "Not only in this state but nationally. What happened was exceptionally dangerous, exceptionally traumatic, and it will affect the lives of these students for the rest of their lives."
In October 2018, three junior varsity football players were sexually assaulted by at least five other teammates in the team locker room, leading to multiple players being charged with first-degree rape and making national headlines.
The rapes, which were described by school officials as an "initiation hazing of players," were committed by four players using a broomstick, according to police.
In the wake of the scandal, a number of faculty members at Damascus High have resigned including Principal Casey Crouse and Assistant Principal Maniya Jules. Those directly involved with the football program, like head coach Eric Wallich, athletic director Joe Doody and the JV football head coach Vinny Colbert, stepped down from their positions.
Montgomery County Public Schools will pay $9.7 million to settle the lawsuits. Most of that money is going to the victims who were attacked in 2018. A lesser payment will go to the family of another player attacked in 2017.
The school district on Thursday gave WUSA9 the following statement:
"The district fully understands the importance of maintaining a safe and respectful environment in all of our school spaces. It’s important to know that as a result of what occurred, MCPS has taken extensive measures to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. This is protocol rooted in an increase in monitoring and oversight of all locker rooms across our school district. This has been in place since 2018 and school and athletic personnel are trained for this each year. We are committed to creating a secure environment where every student feels safe and respected."
As part of the settlements, the school system expressly denied liability.