Lawsuit: Miss. school district didn't stop student bullying

PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) — A lawsuit alleges that a Mississippi high school soccer player with a rare skin disease was bullied and physically assaulted for months, with school officials failing to respond.

The parents of the 15-year-old boy have sued the Pass Christian school district, a principal and Jones College in Ellisville, seeking unspecified damages, saying all three failed to protect their son.

The Sun Herald reported the lawsuit says the student has Darier disease, which can cause wart-like blemishes to flare up on skin that is contaminated or irritated. The parents say soccer teammates would rub muscle pain ointment or bleach on their son’s socks, or drag his clothes through the dirt, mostly during soccer practice or before games in the 2020-21 school year.

The assaults intensified when the team attended soccer camp in June 2021 at Jones College, a community college in Ellisville, the suit alleges. There, it claimed players stripped off the boy’s clothes, poured hot liquids on the boy’s face, or shoved a canned sausage in his throat, and that the players showed videos of the assaults on social media.

It’s unclear whether the students faced expulsion or other disciplinary measures. Pass Christian School Superintendent Carla J. Evers said the events “were handled in accordance with our code of conduct. As this is an ongoing legal and student matter, we will refrain from further comment.”

The suit identifies a Pass Christian High School assistant principal, Jedediah “Jed” Mooney, as someone who allegedly knew of the abuse and “encouraged’ or “turned a blind eye” to it and even allegedly “belittled” the victim himself at times. Mooney was not listed as an assistant principal on the school's website Monday, and it was not immediately clear whether he is...