Knowingly sending anyone into a situation where they may be sexually assaulted in order to catch a rapist ‘in the act’ is reprehensible. When the bait is a special needs teenage girl, it’s criminal.

In 2010, a teacher’s assistant at Sparkman Middle School in Huntsville, Alabama sent a 14 year-old special needs student into a bathroom where a 16 year-old boy, another special needs student with a documented history of aggression and sexual violence, was waiting. The plan was to catch the boy ‘in the act.’ Instead, when no adult arrived to stop the attack, the girl was brutally sodomized.

It’s impossible for any teenager to consent to sex, much less understand or agree to being used as ‘rape bait.’ The then assistant principal of Sparkman Middle School, Jeanne Dunaway, allegedly knew of the plan beforehand and did nothing to stop it. In fact, Dunaway testified that the young woman was ‘responsible for her actions once she entered the bathroom.’ No one who understands the law and child psychology could possibly support the perverse notion that the young lady in question was legitimately consenting to anything.

Dunaway is in effect responsible for the rape of a child. Her supervisor, Principal Ronnie Blair, refused to allow the concerned teacher to separate the rapist from other students, which led to the incident in the bathroom. He also refused to punish Dunaway for her actions, again displaying gross negligence. That’s why I’m calling on the Madison County School Board to immediate fire both Dunaway and Blair and begin a criminal investigation into their actions.

We send our children to school with the expectation that their teachers and administrators will protect them, not send them directly into harm’s way. This young woman deserves justice and the offending parties and our community must understand that gross negligence, incompetence, and moral failure will never again be tolerated.

Please join me in calling on the Madison County School Board to immediately fire the adults responsible for using a mentally disabled child as ‘rape bait’ and begin a criminal investigation into their behavior.