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CHEYENNE — A lawsuit accuses Cheyenne school officials of failing to stop a sixth-grade female teacher from sexually abusing a student over a two-year period even after they became aware of an inappropriate relationship.

The lawsuit contends an “environment based upon preconceptions and stereotypes” resulted in the school district “failing to afford the protections to a young boy that would have been provided to a young girl in a relationship with a male teacher in a position of authority.”

The teacher, Anna Andersen, is serving an eight- to 12-year prison sentence after pleading no contest last year to sexual abuse of a minor. Andersen was a teacher at Freedom Elementary School, and the boy was one of her students when the abuse began.

The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of the boy against Laramie County School District 1, Superintendent John Lyttle, school principal Chad Delbridge and others. The suit seeks unspecified compensation and punitive damages.

The law firm representing the boy declined to comment, and both Lyttle and Delbridge said they couldn’t comment on pending litigation.