YOUNGSTOWN — The same law firm that sued Ursuline High School, three of its football coaches, 11 Ursuline football players and others last week over allegations of hazing and sexual and physical abuse of another football player filed a separate lawsuit Wednesday over allegations of sexual harassment against a female Ursuline student by an Ursuline football player.

The new lawsuit, also filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that a “star” Ursuline football player started sexually harassing a female Ursuline student in June of 2023, “asking this petite … freshman for sex and nude photos.” She refused the boy’s advances, the suit states.

“Unable to accept her rejection, (the boy’s) bullying and harassment escalated into a physical attack at school, causing (the girl) serious physical injuries,” which the suit states are depicted in a photograph made part of the filing.

A photo in the lawsuit shows the reddened lower part of a person’s back. The suit states that a female student took the photo for the girl after seeing the redness and telling the girl “This is really bad.”

The girl and her mother reported the incident that day to Ursuline High School Assistant Principal Margaret Damore, who the suit states told the girl and her mother that the school “would handle the matter” and advised them “not to report the attack to police,” the suit states.

Ursuline Athletic Director John DeSantis learned of the incident, but neither he or Damore reported it to Mahoning County Children Services or law enforcement “as required by law,” the suit states.

According to the Chandra Law Firm, which filed both lawsuits, both are Title IX civil rights lawsuits. Title IX is the federal statute that prohibits sex discrimination and sexual harassment in education and retaliation for opposing it, according to the Chandra Law Firm web site.

Judge Benita Y. Pearson is assigned to handle the case.

Last week’s lawsuit was regarding alleged activities during a trip the Ursuline football team made to several southern states in June during which an Ursuline football player alleges he was physically and sexually assaulted by members of the football team and that the school dismissed the family’s complaints and engaged in a coverup.

On Monday, Ursuline head football coach Dan Reardon was suspended indefinitely and assistant coaches Tim McGlynn and Christian Syrianoudis were placed on administrative leave for the rest of the season. They are the three coaches named in the first lawsuit.

URSULINE LETTER

The following letter was sent to Ursuline parents and students Wednesday from the Rev. Richard Murphy, president of Ursuline’s Board of Directors:

“We want to share with you our thoughts and facts surrounding two lawsuits that now have been filed against our school, and we want you to hear this directly from us, your President and Board of Directors.

First and foremost, nothing is more important to us than the safety of our students. The situations described in these lawsuits are extremely upsetting. No students or their parents should have to deal with such challenges. At the same time, in the strongest possible terms, we want to express our support for our school leadership and in particular Principal Matthew Sammartino, Assistant Principal Margaret Damore and Athletic Director John DeSantis. We also want to express our full support for the vast majority of our Ursuline community that has been unjustly affected by these allegations.

“While we have no intention of trying these cases in the media or in public, we look forward to presenting a vigorous legal defense. We are secure, based on everything we currently know, that our school leadership followed relevant policies.

“We also are secure that our school leadership acted promptly upon learning of these concerns. School administration interviewed parents, coaches, a number of football players involved in the trip, and reviewed all available evidence. For example, upon learning of the allegations involving certain members of our football team, we opened an investigation and contacted the Youngstown Police Department, and the Children Services departments in both Mahoning and Trumbull counties. The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown was also contacted.

“As we’re sure you all understand, we now face active litigation, and these are extremely sensitive matters involving student confidentiality and privacy. Additional information and / or updates will be released as necessary in keeping with legal and ethical obligations.”

GIRL’S ALLEGATIONS

The lawsuit involving the girl alleges that for the next two years after the football player allegedly first started to harass the girl, he continued the behavior, and the Ursuline defendants “took no action to protect (her). Their failures continued even after (her) elder brother — an Ursuline graduate once close to DeSantis — voiced frustration and disappointment about Ursuline officials’ persistent failures to protect his little sister and pressed DeSantis to act,” the suit alleges. The girl also “repeatedly reported to school officials (the boy’s) ongoing predatory behavior,” it states.

The girl’s mother “had to sell her home and move so she could transfer (her daughter) to another school,” the suit states.

The boy accused of harassing the girl is not a named defendant in the hazing lawsuit but is “referenced” in the hazing lawsuit, according to the second lawsuit.

The 51-page lawsuit involving the girl alleges that in the summer of 2023, she was about to be a freshman at Ursuline when she attended a summer gym class at Ursuline High School. She was 14.

The football player accused of harassing her was a freshman that summer and was in the same summer gym class. “Almost immediately, (he) made advances and flirted with (her), often trying to touch her hands and arms or putting his arms around her shoulders,” the suit states.

On Snapchat, he asked her to send him nude photos and have sex, but she refused. She blocked him on Snapchat, the suit states. On the last day of class, June 29, during a break, she and some of her friends / classmates were at one end of the turf at Cafaro Field across the street from Ursuline High School.

The boy tried to flirt with her and put a handful of pellets from the turf field on her legs, but she told him to stop. He threw a handful of the pellets at her, hitting her in the face, then persisted to do this, the suit states. She threw pellets back.

Next the girl started to run away, and he chased her, grabbed her by the waist, picked her up off of the ground and “dropped her on her back,” the suit states. He also “dropped her on her face and stomach on the turf,” then “dragged her across the turf” for about 30 feet and taunted her, the suit alleges. She was in “excruciating pain from the burns on her back” and showed them to a group of girls.

She showed the injury to the gym teacher and got permission to go to the restroom, where a junior girl took photos of the girl’s back to show the girl’s mother. The girl texted it to her mother, who drove to Ursuline, where the girl “broke down crying and told (her mother) what happened in detail,” the suit states.

The girl and her mother spoke with Damore and DeSantis, and the girl told them about the boy’s Snapchat messages and other behaviors and showed them her back.

Damore “convinced (the girl’s mother) not to file a police report,” the suit states.