HOUSTON – A federal court has ruled that the family of an eighth grade student at Loftin Middle School, who committed suicide after intense bullying, can sue the Joshua Independent School District.
Jon Carmichael was 13 years old when he took his own life. His family insists that his death was a direct result of physical, emotional and sexual humiliation that his classmates inflicted upon him, My Fox Houston reports.
In one of the assaults against Carmichael, about 10 boys picked him up and shoved his head in the toilet repeatedly. In another incident, he was stripped nude, tied up and placed in a trashcan.
One of the assaults was uploaded to YouTube before a school staff member had it removed, My Fox DFW reports.
Carmichael’s parents initially filed a lawsuit against the school district, citing that district and school officials were willfully indifferent to their son’s abuse. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2012, but the family pushed the case to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On June 19, the court ruled that Carmichael was a victim of “pervasive sexual harassment” and that his family is entitled to seek damages under the Title IX law.
The Carmichael family is now gearing up for trial. They believe that it could take between three and five years before the case is resolved.
