Former Student Sues McAuley Over Claims Of Sexual Abuse By Coach

Oak Lawn IL

24 August, 2021

5:13 PM

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CHICAGO — A former student has filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court over claims that she was sexually abused by a coach at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School while she was a member of the Mighty Macs water polo team. The complaint names the school, the Catholic Bishop of Chicago and coach Vanessa Carroll as defendants. The former student, identified in the civil suit as "Jane Doe," also alleges that the all-girl Catholic high school and the Catholic bishop were negligent in their duties to provide for their female students' safety. According to the complaint, the girl was a student at McAuley from 2012 to 2016. When she was 13, she was introduced to Carroll as the head coach of McAuley's water polo team. The lawsuit alleges that in 2014, Carroll began taking the student out to dinner and employed the student as a babysitter for her children. Beginning in 2014 and continuing through 2018, the complaint alleges that Carroll engaged in numerous acts of inappropriate sexual contact with the student, including sexual touching, abuse, oral sex, and intercourse. According to the suit, these encounters took place at practices, games, McAuley-sponsored functions, and in Carroll's home. Carroll is also alleged to have "forcibly imposed physical and intimate contact" on the student, without the student's consent, during the time the student was a minor ranging in age from 14 to 17, according to the suit. "At all times relevant, Jane Doe could not explain or understand what was being done to her," the complaint said. The lawsuit maintains that the all-girl Catholic high school continued to retain Carroll as a head coach "when it knew or should have known that [Carroll] has exhibited aberrant and inappropriate behavior with minors, including Jane Doe." Carroll was employed by the high school as its water polo coach from 2010 to 2019, when "upon information and belief" Carroll was forced to resign, according to the complaint. The former student is being represented by the Chicago-based personal injury law firm of Taxman, Pollock, Murray & Bekkerman. "Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School is a close-knit community where young female students should feel and be protected from sexual abuse and predators like Vanessa Carroll," the former student's attorney, Colleen Mikaitis, said in a written statement. "The defendants failed to investigate and act against Vanessa Carroll, even when presented with incriminating evidence. It's unfathomable, in a case involving child sexual abuse and conflicts of interest, that school leadership and all parties involved would not provide full and complete transparency." McAuley's president did not immediately respond to an email asking when the high school first became aware of the allegations made against Carroll, or if it had received complaints from other students and parents the coach's behavior. The school issued a written statement Tuesday evening in response to the lawsuit: At Mother McAuley, our mission is to provide an exceptional education for young women and prepare students to live in a complex, dynamic society by teaching them to think critically, communicate effectively, respond compassionately to the needs of their community and assume roles of leadership. We seek to act with excellence and integrity in all that we do—in our interactions with each other, with students and with the community. Above all, we strive every day to create a safe and welcoming environment where every student's well-being is protected. While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we take these allegations very seriously. We will not be offering any additional comment at this time so as not to compromise the integrity of this process.A spokesperson for the law firm said that a report was not made to Chicago police during the time when the alleged abuse was said to have taken place. The lawsuit seeks a judgement against the Catholic Bishop of Chicago, Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School and Vanessa Carroll. This story has been updated with new information.