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A boy who alleges Brentwood Academy students repeatedly raped or assaulted him in a locker room during the 2014-15 school year has filed a second civil lawsuit against some of the students and their parents.

The lawsuit, filed by the boy's mother on his behalf, says the parents share the responsibility for the actions of their children because they knew of a "pervasive pattern of harassment, bullying, and assault" by their children.

The $6 million suit, filed Thursday in Williamson County by John Doe via his mother Jane Doe, comes weeks after a $30 million lawsuit accusing school officials of negligence in relation to the reported attacks that have rocked the elite private Christian school.

The names of the boys accused of attacking John Doe and their parents are not included in either lawsuit.

Related:

► Lawsuit: Brentwood Academy officials refused to report repeated rapes of 12-year-old boy

► Document shows police knew extent of Brentwood Academy assault allegations in 2015

► Email: Detective told family in 2016 he would present Brentwood Academy case to prosecutor

The first lawsuit names Brentwood Academy and school officials as defendants, accusing them of not properly reporting or responding to the alleged attacks. School officials have denied wrongdoing or knowing of rape allegations during the 2014-15 school year.

The original lawsuit says four boys who either held down John Doe, held closed the locker room door or physically assaulted the boy. The new lawsuit is filed against three of the boys and their parents, but contains the same allegations.

Two of the boys are accused of alternating between holding John Doe down or holding locker room doors closed while a third boy raped John Doe, according to the lawsuit. The third boy is accused of putting his penis in John Doe's mouth and buttocks without consent, the lawsuit states.

The parents of the three boys are accused of knowing their sons were "involved in a severe pattern of harassment, bullying, and assault upon one or more children at Brentwood Academy during the academic year 2014-15," the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit says that the parents knew their children were involved in "sexual assault and/or rape upon John Doe" at the academy during the same period.

"(The parents) were on actual and/or constructive notice of these acts and through deliberate indifference failed to redress the same with remedial action," the lawsuit states.

More:

► Lack of reporting of suspected child abuse by schools an 'epidemic,' prosecutors say

► Headmaster's faith central in Brentwood Academy child sex abuse lawsuit

In both the original and new lawsuit, John and Jane Doe say Brentwood Academy knew of bullying, intimidation and harassment by the accused boys. That behavior includes elbowing a student in the hallways, putting a student in a trash can and one boy urinating and defecating in another student's shoe, according to the lawsuit.

Claims in a new case

The lawsuit cites two Tennessee laws that say parents may be held liable for the acts of their children.

One law says a parent is liable for the acts of a child that cause injury "where the parent or guardian knows, or should know, of the child's tendency to commit wrongful acts which can be expected to cause injury."

That law specifies that parents are presumed to know of a child's tendency "if the child has previously been charged and found responsible for such actions."

The other law says anyone suing a parent under this law can receive up to $10,000.

Civil lawsuits that include those claims can be hard to win because "it is extremely hard to prove" parents had prior knowledge of similar bad behavior, said Larry Crain, a Brentwood attorney not involved in this case but who has filed bullying lawsuits on behalf of students.

Absent school discipline or prior criminal charges as evidence, there's no established precedent as to what proves prior knowledge, Crain said, adding that he was not aware of another case that won a liability claim against a parent.

John Doe, through his mother and attorney Roland Mumford, is suing each parent of the three boys individually.

"Hopefully this will send a message across Tennessee that parents need to be held responsible for the acts of their children who are bullying, assaulting or harassing kids in schools," Mumford said Thursday.

Jane Doe is named in the new suit because John Doe is a minor, but she is not a party to the lawsuit.

Additionally, John Doe is suing the three boys collectively for $3 million in compensation and $3 million in punitive damages on claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, assault and false imprisonment.

It's rare that plaintiffs collect the full amount of money sought in civil filings, and will likely be the case for John Doe, Crain said. Punitive damages take into account a person's ability to pay, and in this case those people are teenagers.

"The likelihood of a punitive damages award against a minor is remote," Crain said.

In April 2015, Brentwood police began an investigation sparked by a referral from the Tennessee Department of Children's Services.

Both agencies have pending investigations.

"I am unable to comment on the status of the investigation," Brentwood police Assistant Chief Thomas Walsh said in an email Thursday, "other than to confirm that the case remains open at this time."

Reach Dave Boucher at dboucher@tennessean.com or 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.Reach Elaina Sauber at esauber@tennessean.com or 615-571-1172 and on Twitter @ElainaSauber. Reach Stacey Barchenger at sbarchenger@tennessean.com or 615-726-8968 and on Twitter @sbarchenger.