Family files lawsuit against Dawson, former teacher accused of sexual abuse

Oct. 23—The family of one of the students reportedly sexually abused by an Alexander Dawson School music teacher has filed a lawsuit against the school and the former teacher.

Da'Jon Tyrik James, 28, is charged with two counts of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust and unlawful sexual contact.

According to the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, deputies were contacted in February by Boulder County Child Protective Services about a possible sexual assault on a student by a teacher.

During the course of the investigation, detectives met with four female Dawson School students and their parents. Two of the students were 17-year-olds at the time, one was 18 and another was 19, the news release said. They reported that James, who was their music teacher at Dawson School, had touched them sexually. They said the touching began in January and continued until the report was made on Feb. 4.

The four female students said they were subjected to inappropriate language, sexually explicit imagery, prolonged hugging, fondling, inappropriate complementing and inappropriate kissing on their foreheads, the release said. All four students said the alleged incidents occurred on school property during school hours.

Dawson School is a private kindergarten through 12th-grade school in Lafayette.

On Sept. 30, the family of one of the students named as a victim in the case filed a lawsuit against James and Dawson, citing "the school's callous disregard for the safety and well-being of its students — which appears to fit a long-standing pattern of covering up and minimizing sexual assault on its campus and marginalizing the victims of those assaults."

Officials with Dawson did not return requests for comment.

According to the lawsuit, James resigned from his previous teaching job in California after similar allegations arose, and discussed those allegations with other teachers in August 2020 at a faculty gathering while asking about Dawson's policies on sexual misconduct.

According to the lawsuit, concerns about those comments were passed on to Ann Carson, Dawson's upper school director at the time, but the school took no action.

The named victim in the lawsuit was a juvenile at the time, and according to the complaint James began arranging for one-on-one time with her outside the presence of other students and sometimes outside school hours.

According to the lawsuit, James touched the girl inappropriately, slapped her in the face when he was unhappy with her vocal performance and began texting her.

"James abused his position of trust as a teacher, engaged in classic 'grooming' behaviors with Mary and several other students, and sexually harassed and sexually assaulted Mary and several other students," the lawsuit reads.

In late January, the girl told her parents about James' behavior, and the parents brought the allegations to the school's attention.

The school then "allowed James to resign" but, according to the complaint, did not contact police and said the allegations were in a "grey area" as far as mandatory reporting.

"Rather than immediately reporting what was clearly a crime committed by a teacher against a student, Dawson's administration minimized James' egregious behavior and failed to protect (the student)," the lawsuit read.

The lawsuit also claims the school sent out an email announcing James' resignation but did not state the reason for his departure despite the fact that some students were still taking private lessons from him.

"Furthermore, faculty were instructed by Dawson not to talk to anyone about what had occurred regarding James' departure," the lawsuit read. "This led to James staying with a faculty member who was unaware of James' behavior and who had small children in the house."

Then on April 13, James was seen on Dawson's campus despite the school saying he would not be allowed back, prompting some of the named victims to hide in the school theater for fear of retribution.

According to court records, this is the only civil lawsuit filed against James and the school at this time.

James, who is out of custody on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond, had his arraignment hearing Friday pushed back to Jan. 12.

___

(c)2021 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)

Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.