GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Graphic, sexual encounters between a former Grand Rapids Public School teacher and her students are outlined in a more than 40-page lawsuit filed in federal court.
According to the document, Jamila Williams had sex with her students in front of one of her children, inside her victim’s homes and even inside school walls.
The lawsuit is on behalf of five plaintiffs, all unidentified, former students of Williams.
It names as defendants the Grand Rapids Public School District, Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal, assistant superintendent Larry Johnson, Grand Rapids University Prep principal Daniel Williams and assistant principal Kenyatta Hill.
The allegations spelled out in the lawsuit describe various sexual encounters, explicit text messages and instances where Williams is accused of groping and harassing her victims.
One victim, identified as ‘U.J.’ in the lawsuit, begins with the pursuit of an ‘excellent student.’ On one occasion, ‘U.J.’ said Williams was driving him home, with her 4-year-old daughter in the car, when Williams pulled over, began to fondle the teen, eventually performing oral sex. A short time later, they drove to an elementary school and had sex inside some of the play equipment. It didn’t stop there. The pair also had sex in a classroom.
A second victim, identified as ‘John Doe,’ was a minor who struggled with math, Williams’ area of expertise. While working on a project, the teen traded texts with his teacher, but those texts turned to sexts. Williams began showing up at the McDonald’s where the boy worked, ‘teasing’ him about sex. After a few months, Williams was invited over to the boy’s home where they had sex while his mother was asleep upstairs. Once ‘John Doe’s’ grades began to drop, Williams offered to ‘fix’ his grades in exchange for sex.
The youngest victim at the time, ‘J.S.’- just 14-years-old at the time – was an athlete, who posted topless pictures of himself on social media sites. After apparently stalking the boy on the web, Williams began sending him private messages. The two eventually had sex outside his home and in the middle of the school day.
The fourth victim, a 15-year-old, was a friend to Williams’ son. While working on a school project, Williams began sending the child texts of a ‘sexual nature’. While the boy – identified as ‘T.B.’ – was out to dinner with Williams’ family, he claims she groped him under the table. The touching also took place at school.
Another plaintiff, ‘James Doe,’ had a history of mental illness and was a special education student. Williams’ advances began with verbal flirting before she groped the boy in her classroom and, according to the lawsuit, forced him to kiss her in an elevator.
What all these claims have in common is that the boys began to act out, or become depressed. The plaintiffs claim the school and the district failed to investigate the incidents on their own, instead deferring to police, in violation of federal law. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for what they say is psychological and emotional distress, among other things. They’re also seeking punitive damages, or financial penalties meant to deter the defendant from repeating the same conduct. Finally, they’re seeking injunctive relief, which means the court would order the defendant to take steps preventing the discrimination.
