Two Oklahoma school districts have been named in separate lawsuits, accused of failing to protect students who were molested by their teachers or involvedin illegal sexual relationships.
In the first case, the mother of a 12-year-old girl who was molested by a teacher at Thoreau Demonstration Academy in Tulsa filed a lawsuit on behalf ofher daughter. The lawsuit alleges that a principal, a school counselor, and a teacher knew that Brian Christian Drabek, 42, was involved in aninappropriate relationship with the girl, but failed to take action to protect her from sexual abuse. According to the lawsuit, which also names TulsaPublic Schools, the three school employees knew about the allegationsagainst the teacher, but "took no corrective measures, failed to notify the parent (of the child) and failed to notify the relevant authorities.�
The mother of the girl claims that no one took her complaints about the teacher seriously after she discovered the teacher had picked her daughter up fromhome without her knowledge or consent until she attempted to file a protective order against the teacher.
In April, Drabek pleaded guilty to four counts of lewd molestation and one count of making a lewd or indecent proposal to a child. Late last month, hewas sentenced to five concurrent 20-year split sentences, with 10 years suspended for each. In other words, he is sentenced to 10 years in prison and10 years of probation. He will also be required to register for life as a sex offender.
In the second case, the father of a 15-year-old boy who involved in a sexual relationship with a high school English teacher has filed a lawsuit againstthe Hollis Independent School District. The lawsuit alleges that the school district attempted to "cover up"the teacher's actions after at least two people allegedly saw the teacher and the student engaged in sexual activity in the classroom. According tothe lawsuit, the incident was reported to a school administrator, but the administrator did not contact the teen's father, the Department of HumanServices, or law enforcement, in violation of state law that requires such reporting.
Caswell continued to visit the teen even after she resigned from her teaching position in April 2014. The boy's father sent him to Mississippi to visithis mother in an attempt to get him away from the teacher, but Caswell drove 650 miles to visit the boy and meet him in a hotel for sex. She was arrestedin Mississippi and charged in Oklahoma with second degree rape and other crimes.
Yesterday, the former teacher pleaded guilty pleaded guilty in Harmon County District Court to three counts of second-degree rape, two counts of enticinga child and one count of forcible sodomy. She is scheduled for sentencing August 31.
