Horry Schools Pre-K student sexually assaulted by classmate in bathroom, suit says
A Horry County Schools pre-kindergarten student was sexually assaulted by another student earlier this year, according to a recent lawsuit filing.
The student, labeled under the pseudonym Janie Doe in the suit, was receiving special education services at St. James Elementary, the suit states, and she was taken to the doctor numerous times during the 2024-25 school year complaining of pain in her private areas and stomach.
The student came home about March 14, 2025, with blood in her underwear and told her parents another student had put “his hand in her business” in the bathroom, according to the complaint against the school district.
HCS spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier declined to comment on the pending litigation.
Doe’s parents emailed the school about the incident and were told by administrators they’d be calling police, the suit states.
St. James Elementary administrators later told them that the same student accused of inappropriately touching their daughter had been accused by another student of a similar act during recess, according to the suit.
The accused student was suspended for the rest of the school year, but allowed to return for the 2025-26 school year, the suit states.
The parents are alleging gross negligence by HCS, which hasn’t provided any justification for how and why the two students were together unsupervised in the bathroom.
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
