PITTSBURGH -- The parents of an Upper St. Clair High School freshman who claims she was sexually assaulted on campus are suing the USC school district in federal court, alleging that the girl was not adequately protected.

In the suit, the 15-year-old girl -- identified only as "Jane Doe" -- claims that she was sexually assaulted by a male freshman several times on and off school grounds.

The suit also claims a teacher knew what happened but did not act in time to stop more assaults from happening to the girl and three others.

"The intervention specialist contacted the boy's mother, and we believe that she did because, later that day, he text messaged her, 'I'm so mad at you,'" said the girl's attorney, David Barton.

School officials ignored the district's written policy to contact police and suspend the boy, Barton said.

"They had him write apology notes and then they released him right back into his regular schedule and allowed him to roam the halls freely, including after school," Barton said.

Police have previously said that the alleged attacks on school grounds happened in a secluded stairwell in February.

The school district and eight administrators and teachers are named as defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages.

There are five alleged victims in the criminal case against the boy, all of whom are female special education students at the school.

According to the lawsuit, the girls "were less able to reason and resist such crimes and were among the most vulnerable students at Upper St. Clair High School."

WTAE Channel 4's Jon Greiner reported the lawsuit stated the school's inaction created an "atmosphere of unabated violence that provided a safe haven for continued criminal assaults."

"She told her father that she feels like she's lost everything because she is the victim of a sexual assault and she's lost her friends and lost the ability to go to school with all of her friends in her neighborhood," Barton said.

No one from the school district responded to WTAE Channel 4's requests on Monday afternoon for a response.

On Tuesday, the district issued a written statement which claimed that the lawsuit "contains a number of factual inaccuracies" and that it plans to defend itself.

"Maintaining a safe educational environment in all respects has been and will continue to be of uppermost importance to the district and its personnel," according to the statement. "The district responded immediately when it was apprised of the nature of the allegations being made by students that are referred to in the complaint."

The boy was charged in February with rape, aggravated assault and terroristic threats. He's on house arrest while he awaits a hearing, and his name is not being released because his case is being handled in juvenile court.

A judge has issued a gag order to prevent both sides from discussing the case in the media.

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The following statement was released by Jane Doe's parents on Monday afternoon:

"We believe that when our children are in school they should be in a setting that is safe. This lawsuit is about the failure of the Upper St. Clair School District and some of its employees to make the high school safe. Not only did they fail to protect our daughter, but they also disregarded school district disciplinary and safety policies and, as a result, created a greater risk to our daughter.

"The offender is referred to as Michael ROE in the Complaint. The School District had prior knowledge of criminal acts of sexual violence that were committed in school by ROE against other girls.

"The School District's disciplinary policy required ROE's suspension out of school. Contrary to its own policy, the School District suspended ROE in-school and had him sit in a classroom with our daughter and other victims. The School District punished ROE for these known prior assaults by making him write apology notes.

"Pennsylvania's Safe Schools Act, and other state laws, require schools to report these kinds of crimes to the police. But the Upper St. Clair School District did not.

"Instead, they put him in the same room with our daughter and permitted him to roam the school after the school day had ended.

"We were shocked to learn that in this day and age, the School District chose to treat criminal sexual assault like some harmless school prank in violation of both the law and its own policy.

"As a result, our daughter is now a rape survivor, as are other girls at the High School. If we could turn the clock back to prevent this, we would. We want to make sure this does not happen to any other students at Upper St. Clair High School. We want to be certain they change the climate that allowed and facilitated the sexual assaults on our daughter and other girls. We want to make sure that in the future the Upper St Clair School District and its administrators act swiftly and decisively to stop in-school sexual harassment and sexual assaults before another tragedy results."

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