Attorney plans to appeal federal judge’s dismissal of lawsuit

LIBERTY -- Attorney David Engler is planning to appeal a federal judge's decision to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging that Trumbull County Family Court Administrative Judge Sandra Stabile Harwood failed to seek diversion for his 13-year-old client after he claims trauma from an alleged rape at Liberty Schools led to her committing two felonies this year.

The lawsuit was filed May 19 in the U.S. Northern Ohio District Court, alleging that Harwood violated the due process rights of his minor client by not seeking diversion outlined under Ohio Juvenile Rule 9(a) after the child was charged with two felonies.

The lawsuit relates to another filed by the father of the juvenile on Oct 1, 2022, alleging Title IX violations against Liberty Local Schools and two then-employees of the school claiming his daughter had been sexually assaulted and subsequently bullied by a male student at W.S. Guy Junior High School, with the father claiming his daughter received no support from the two then employees of the school.

Read more in Tuesday’s Tribune Chronicle.