Trial underway in Title IX lawsuit against Idaho school

The principal of an Idaho school where a 13-year-old reported she was raped by an older student says surveillance video of the incident appeared to her to show “wrong acts of affection.”

Kelly Chapman, the principal of Shoshone Middle and High School, made the statement in Boise’s U.S. District Court on Tuesday. The family of the girl has sued the Shoshone School District alleging that Chapman and other school officials denied the girl an education after the assault by creating a hostile environment and subjecting her to sexual discrimination.

The lawsuit says a prominent high school student athlete was charged and later pleaded guilty in juvenile court to lewd conduct with a child in connection with the incident.

The jury began hearing arguments in the civil case on Monday.