Seattle Public Schools to pay $16M to former student alleging years of sexual abuse
Seattle Public Schools to pay $16M in sexual assault settlement
Seattle Public Schools has agreed to pay $16 million to a former Garfield High School student who alleged the district failed to protect her from years of sexual abuse by two coaches.
SEATTLE - Seattle Public Schools has agreed to pay $16 million to a former Garfield High School student who alleged the district failed to protect her from years of sexual abuse by two coaches.
The lawsuit, filed in July 2024, claims SPS failed to take the necessary steps to safeguard the student when she was 13 years old. It cites a failure to report the sexual abuse, along with "extreme and outrageous conduct" that allowed the abuse and discrimination based on disability.
Attorney Paul Sewell of PWRFL represented the student. According to the lawsuit, a former volunteer weightlifting coach and assistant coach for the Garfield girls' basketball team, had groomed and sexually abused the teen from 2013 until after 2017.
Walter Jones, the weightlifting coach, allegedly raped the student repeatedly, including in the school's weight room. The abuse started after Jones was allowed to volunteer in 2013, despite being placed on the district's "Do Not Re-Hire" list due to previous misconduct, according to the law firm.
The suit said Jones threatened to kill the student if she reported the incidents.
The assistant coach, Marvin Hall, reportedly kept the victim in an abusive relationship that stretched into her adult years. Hall allegedly initiated the relationship following his hiring in 2017, while he was married with children.
Marvin Hall (via Garfield High School website)
Seattle Public Schools says both Jones and Hall have been criminally charged for their actions, and are not allowed to volunteer or work for SPS. Hall resigned from his position at SPS in August 2022, according to the district.
"The district takes these incidents very seriously and has fully cooperated with law enforcement. SPS remains committed to its preventative trainings and to strengthening its procedures to prevent incidents like this from occurring in the future," said a spokesperson for SPS.
SPS says the district will pay $500,000 of the settlement, and the rest will be paid by the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool.
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Editor's note: The attorney representing the student has been corrected.