Multiple first grade students at Estes Hills Elementary Schools were allegedly sexually abused, and a lawsuit alleges the school district didn’t do enough to help the victims or tell their guardians, according to a report in the Herald-Sun.

The newspaper cites materials in the lawsuit that say a mental health clinician at the school noticed what she believed were signs post-traumatic stress. One of the students told the worker that he and two other boys had repeatedly been sexually assaulted by older students.

The lawsuit reportedly names the Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools Board of Education as the defendant because the district failed to protect the students or notify guardians.

The report said the district’s attorneys had not filed a response, although they have until mid-June to do so.

The district employee who was referenced in the lawsuit as noticing the patterns of abuse told the newspaper that she spoke to superiors, who told her they were aware of the incidents and that the situation had been resolved.

But the employee goes on to say that parents of two of the alleged victims were unaware of the instances until she told the parents.

A district spokesperson told the newspaper that the system couldn’t comment on pending litigation and issued the same statement to WCHL on Thursday afternoon.

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