Jury says Maner should get $3.7 million in sex-abuse suit

When the jury returned its verdict the Fayette County schools took a big hit - a $3.7 million hit. Hopefully there will be some legal analysis in the near future. But for now, I must conclude the evidence was convincing to the jury...and that's how it goes. The plaintiff's evidence was described in the Lexington Snitch, posted here. (.jpeg file - download to view)

Video from WKYT TV.

The Herald-Leader reports:

A jury says that Carol Lynne Maner should receive $3.7 million in her high-profile sex-abuse lawsuit against the Fayette County Board of Education.

The verdict includes $3.5 million for emotional suffering and $200,000 for lost wages.

Jurors reached their conclusion after being urged “to send a message to these folks” by Maner’s attorney Thursday morning.

“They want you to ignore the evidence,” said attorney Chris Miller, who argued that the Fayette County Board of Education ignored allegations of sex abuse of Maner by four teachers, a guidance counselor and an assistant principal at Lafayette High School and Beaumont Junior High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

“We can’t allow this to happen in our community,” Miller said.

Miller asked for $2.16 million in lost wages from the educational opportunities he says Maner, now 45, was denied because of the alleged abuse. He asked for $37,685 for psychiatric counseling and psychotropic medicine for the next five years.

...Walter and Hubbard are the only teachers accused by Maner to be criminally charged. They were arrested last week in Tennessee and Pennsylvania, respectively. Much of the other alleged sexual activity described by Maner happened after she turned 16, the age of consent in Kentucky.

Plaintiff rests in 30-year old Fayette County Sex Abuse case

After introducing a witness who testified he had sexual relations at age 14 with a Beaumont Junior High School art teacher, Carol Lynne Maner rested her case Thursday in her sex-abuse lawsuit against the Fayette County Board of Education.

The trial continues Tuesday with the school board presenting its case if Circuit Judge Thomas L. Clark overrules the defense’s motion to enter a verdict in its favor. Clark indicated he would rule on Tuesday.

Maner alleges that the board ignored allegations of sexual abuse committed by four teachers, a guidance counselor and an assistant principal at Beaumont and Lafayette High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

...A classmate and former neighbor of Maner’s testified that she told him that art teacher Roberta Blackwell, now known as Roberta Walter, “had a crush on him.”...

...He testified that he had sex with Walter at the school his eighth-grade year.

During questioning by school board attorney Larry C. Deener, the witness acknowledged that he never told school officials or police about the incident.

Deener has said that the school board was never aware of any allegations of sexual abuse and did not cause Maner’s injuries.

This from the Herald-Leader.

Abuse suit against FCPS schools opens

WOMAN ALLEGES MOLESTATION BY TEACHERS

Carol Lynne Maner was a 15-year-old girl living in a broken home with an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother who had a multiple personality disorder.

She lacked self-esteem and parental guidance, making her vulnerable to sexual predators who taught at Beaumont Junior High School, Maner's attorney said yesterday in the first day of trial in her lawsuit against the Fayette County Board of Education. On learning of her unstable home situation, an art teacher and a science teacher gained her and her family's trust by posing as parental figures and methodically began grooming her for sexual exploitation, her attorney said.

Maner is accusing the school board of concealing evidence of a clear pattern of sexual abuse by four teachers, a guidance counselor and an assistant principal at Beaumont and Lafayette High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Her attorney, Chris Miller of Lexington, warned jurors to be prepared for disturbing details of sexual abuse that was so rampant "that you may think there is no way this could happen in this community."

"It's not going to be pleasant," Miller said. "I wish there was a way I could present this evidence to you all that would make it more palatable. But there is no way. What happened to her when she was 15 years old is beyond belief. It is despicable."

Defense attorney Larry C. Deener said the school board is not responsible for Maner's injuries. Some of the alleged abusers deny wrongdoing. Others are either dead or out of state. But, regardless of whether Maner was sexually abused, the school board was not aware of it and did not cause it to happen, Deener said.

This from the Herald-Leader.