Lawsuit: Special needs student allegedly assaulted in Litchfield District care

A Litchfield Elementary School District parent alleges the district told him his special needs son injured himself, only to later discover his son was stabbed and abused repeatedly by another student on a bus while in the care and supervision of the district.

According to an April Maricopa County Superior Court filing, the parent claims the district, on April 5, 2023, at approximately 8:30 a.m., failed to prevent a 25-minute-long harassment and subsequent assault on his autistic and special needs son from another unidentified student. The lawsuit further claims a district bus monitor was present and missed or ignored the assault.

“During the bus ride, (the son) was harassed and assaulted by another student on the bus for approximately 25 minutes,” the complaint reads.

“The assault by the unknown student included scraping a foreign object across (his) face and stabbing (him) in the face with the object repeatedly.”

When contacted about the lawsuit, the district said it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Filed by Kevan Sutton, the lawsuit claims his son suffered a corneal abrasion to his right eye as well as scrapes, cuts and abrasions, requiring medical attention.

The lawsuit also claims the district was inaccurate or dishonest in alleging the son did it to himself.

“(Sutton) was not notified by the school of (his son’s) injury until approximately 2:30 p.m., six hours after the incident,” the complaint reads. “At the time he was notified, (Sutton) was not advised that the injury had occurred six hours previously or that the Unknown Student had caused the injuries. Instead, (the father) was told that (his son) had ‘scratched himself’ and required medical attention.”

The parent apparently found out weeks later that a district bus camera captured the assault.

The Litchfield Park Independent has requested a copy of this video from Amy Potapoff, records custodian for Litchfield Elementary School District.

The plaintiff is seeking expenses for the son’s medical treatment, physicians, and pharmaceuticals and a projection of these future expenses.

The district’s transportation sectors have seen a revolving door of leadership the past few years. Litchfield Elementary School District’s former bus and transportation director resigned Jan. 8, just six months after his hiring.

Mahlon Williams said he resigned for personal reasons during the district’s governing board meeting in early January.

“I am the second African American director in a row to resign for personal reasons,” he said. “And we’ll just leave it at personal reasons.”
According to the time line presented in the lawsuit, Williams would not have been in position during the incident but could have potentially been in the time line when the parent was informed of the video’s existence.

The director before Williams, Nathan Whyte, a Black man, resigned a week after the alleged April abuse incident for “personal reasons.” It is not known if the transportation department was responsible for informing parents of the abuse or if the department was initially aware of the abuse.

However, according to wording in the legal complaint, the father was informed potentially weeks after Whyte resigned.