OCONTO FALLS – On Wednesday, April 1, Disparti Law Group announced that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin passed a motion to allow the filing of a second amended complaint in the Oconto Falls School District sexual abuse case.
The federal civil rights lawsuit against the Oconto Falls Board of Education was originally filed on March 11 with three plaintiffs — Amanda, Brooke and Grace — that alleged a “disturbing pattern of abuse by multiple teachers and staff members over a period of time of 20 years,” a Disparti press release stated.
A March 18 amended complaint brought two additional plaintiffs, former students Brianna and Kayla.
With this latest amendment, the sixth plaintiff in this case — a minor — has been named as D.P. by her friend Brianne. The timeframe of the alleged abuse was also updated from 20 years to 35 years.
“Since launching this case against the Oconto Falls School District, our sexual abuse hotline has been flooded with calls from additional witnesses and potential victims,” attorney Cass Casper of Disparti Law Group said in a press release.
“We are discovering that the alleged pattern of abuse is far more widespread and pervasive than initially understood.”
The complaint against the Board of Education of the Oconto Falls Public School District was summarized on the first page of the amended file as follows:
“This defendant has maintained a pervasive unwritten policy, practice and custom of deliberate indifference to sexual misconduct in all its forms — whether perpetrated by teachers against students, by students against other students or by staff against staff — that deprived plaintiffs of their constitutional rights to bodily integrity and personal security under the Fourteenth Amendment, under which reports were dismissed rather than investigated, perpetrators were protected rather than disciplined and those who came forward were silenced, discredited, penalized or threatened rather than supported.”
Specifically, the document stated that at least twelve different teachers and staff members engaged in “grooming and/or sexual abuse” towards at least twenty identified victims from 1988 to 2025.
“While plaintiffs were aware of their abuse, they had no knowledge — and no reason to know — of the board’s unwritten policies, customs and practices tolerating sexual abuse and grooming across many teachers and students until fall 2025 and into 2026, when they learned of the full scope of teacher-student sexual abuse at Oconto Falls and the board’s decades-long pattern of ignoring it,” the document further stated.
Adding to this pattern of abuse, according to Disparti Law Group, is the school board’s “deliberate indifference” towards a report from D.P.
In 2023, D.P. gave a report regarding her middle school gym teacher, which was “publicly dismissed and discredited by the district through an official press release that shamed and blamed the parents and children who complained.”
It also stated that when facing physical abuse by drama teacher Gayle Gander she was too scared to speak up because of the district’s prior shaming.
The complaint went on to allege that the district failed to designate D.P. as a victim of Gayle Gander following her “direct disclosure to law enforcement.”
Also introduced in the amended complaint was Brie, the parent of a former middle school student during the 2022 – 2023 school year and moderator of the Parents of Oconto Falls Schools Facebook group.
She submitted a signed declaration describing alleged patterns of misconduct.
While not currently plaintiffs in the case, additional incidents were shared by former student Rebecca and parent Eric James.
Former student Rebecca added to the complaint by sharing her experience of being sexually assaulted by a fellow student on school grounds.
“When Rebecca reported to [the principal], he told her to go to the police if she wanted something done. Rather than remove their classmate from their shared gym class, the school required Rebecca to change classes. The classmate faced no consequences,” the legal complaint read.
“Rebecca later learned that the classmate’s family member was on the Oconto Falls school board at the time of both her assault and her report,” it added.
Eric James provided information about sexualized comments and actions that were made by a gym teacher towards his daughter and their friends.
He alleged that he made a report to administrators, but was told that he “lacked sufficient proof” and no crime had been committed. This led to him removing his daughter from the school district during the 2024 - 2025 school year, according to information provided.
Additional declarations were submitted by the following former students: Jen, alleging abuse by a teacher; Jennifer, alleging an inappropriate relationship with a coach who was later hired as a teacher; and Nicole, alleging an inappropriate relationship with a coach.
Outside of these events, the complaint alleged that when plaintiffs Amanda and Brooke notified the district of their claims in 2025 the district hired a lawyer who took steps towards “chilling the administration of justice and putting Amanda and Brooke in fear.”
The complaint closed by stating that “all six plaintiffs suffered substantial damages, including loss of equal educational opportunities, emotional distress and other compensatory damages.”
A jury trial is sought on all charges.
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