Shelton School District sued

Two Shelton High School female students claim the school allowed a guidance counselor to “systematically groom and sexually prey” on them, according to a complaint originally filed March 6 in Mason County Superior Court and withdrawn March 8 due to a captioning error.

Lesley O’Neill, one of the attorneys representing the defendants, told the Journal on Monday her firm, Pfau Cochran Vertetis Amala in Seattle, plans to refile the complaint as soon as possible.

The girls and their parents are identified by their initials in the complaint. The Journal does not identify minor victims of sexual crimes or their families.

During the 2022-2023 school year, the students were both 14 and in ninth grade. Samuel Caffey was their freshman guidance counselor.

Caffey, 30, is serving 41 months after pleading guilty to third-degree child rape related to a teenage student under his advisement.

“This lawsuit arises from sexual harassment and abuse plaintiffs suffered while they were minor students at Shelton High School, a school operated and run by Shelton School District in Shelton, Washington. At all relevant times, the perpetrator of these deplorable acts was an employee and agent of the defendant, a guidance counselor at Shelton High School, Samuel Caffey (‘Mr. Caffey’). Despite clear and repeated warnings, the defendant allowed Mr. Caffey to abuse his position of authority and influence over plaintiffs to systematically groom and sexually prey on [redacted] over an extended period,” the complaint states.

The students say Caffey harassed and abused them “regularly on school property, including in Mr. Caffey’s office at Shelton High School and other areas on defendant’s property, during school activities. The abuse also occurred off campus in Mr. Caffey’s vehicle, and at [redacted]’s home, among other location,” according to the complaint.

The students allege the school should have known Caffey was engaged in improper activities because he regularly removed them from their classes and communicated with them by texting and other methods that violated the school’s policies.

“Prior to the sexual harassment and/or abuse of [redacted] and [redacted], the defendant was aware Mr. Caffey was messaging from his Instagram account and texting minor students without including and/or notifying parents, which was a violation of defendant’s policies and procedures,” the complaint alleges.

Caffey’s actions “were readily apparent to other teachers and school personnel at Shelton High School,” the complaint states.

Shelton High officials also knew Caffey had failed to “maintain appropriate teacher and student boundaries in the past” because Caffey dated and married one of his former students, according to the complaint.

The girls claim several parents were starting to notice Caffey’s questionable behavior and complained to school administrators in December 2022 and then a few months later.

“By February 2023, parents again complained to the defendant’s agents, this time to the assistant principal, about Mr. Caffey inappropriately messaging students in violation of the defendant’s policies and procedures and pulling students out of class at inappropriate times. Yet the agents of Shelton High School allowed this behavior to continue,” the complaint states.

The students also claim Caffey told them personal information about his family and sex life and school officials knew Caffey “was asking a minor student to provide intimate or unduly revealing photos,” according to the complaint.

The school repeatedly failed to investigate Caffey despite evidence he was engaging in abusive behavior, the students claim.

“The defendant’s repeated failures to properly investigate, report, and respond to clear signs that Mr. Caffey was engaging in inappropriate and sexually abusive relationships with minor female students, including [redacted] and [redacted], allowed Mr. Caffey to sexually harass and abuse [redacted] and [redacted] over the course of many months,” the complaint states.

The students are seeking general and special damages from Shelton School District and Shelton High School for negligence, discrimination and statutory failure to report sexual abuse.

Shelton School District did not respond to a request for comment from the Journal.