2 former students say boys at their Utah high school harassed them, but faced no discipline

Two former Syracuse High School students say when boys at their school shared nude and doctored images of them online, they went to administrators to report what happened. 

But the young women allege school officials did little beyond telling the boys to delete their social media accounts  – a response they say violated federal antidiscrimination law and allowed the predatory behavior to continue online and at school. 

Under pseudonyms Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, the women laid out the allegations in a lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court, accusing the district of failing “to discipline any perpetrator at any point during the entire period of the harassment.”

The Davis School District and the former principal of the high school, Jed Johansen, are named as defendants, among other administrators and several of the former classmates they say were responsible for the circulating images and harassment they allege happened in the 2023-2024 school year. 

The case comes as a lawsuit in New York draws new national scrutiny to the obligations of schools and universities in responding to harassment and sexual assault involving students. In September, a former student sued Cornell University over its handling of her report that seven men sexually assaulted her at a fraternity there in 2024. 

The Davis School District, in a statement to Utah News Dispatch, said it “strongly and unequivocally rejects the allegations against district staff and employees and the characterization of their conduct.”

The district added that the legal process “will allow evidence that differs materially from the narrative presented to be evaluated fairly, fully, and in its proper context.” The statement said that student privacy requirements limit the information it can disclose publicly. 

“Protecting students remains our highest responsibility and foundational to our mission of student success,” the school district said. “No allegation, regardless of how strongly we dispute its characterization of events, will distract us from that purpose.”

Johansen did not answer a call or text message at a publicly listed phone number. 

The former Syracuse High students bringing the lawsuit say a group of boys at the school used a private Snapchat group named “Demon Time” to share nude images of girls at the school. Their suit alleges they also used a public Instagram account called “Syracuse Barstool” to post “sexually degrading, threatening, and dehumanizing content targeting female students by name.” 

The young women say school administrators routed their initial reports to the principal instead of referring them through the proper channel — the school district’s Title IX investigator, who is tasked with reviewing allegations of sex-based discrimination and harassment. 

Months later, when Jane Doe 1’s parents pressed the principal for answers, their lawsuit alleges he made statements “about not wanting to ‘ruin these boys’ lives’ and their ability to go on religious missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.”

The young women contend the school district eventually investigated a complaint they made to its equal opportunity office, but it was dismissed in part because the school district concluded the conduct happened online and outside of the district’s jurisdiction. Their attorneys contend that’s incorrect, arguing the boys harassed them at school, too. 

They said their grades and attendance dropped and their mental health suffered because of what happened during the 2023-2024 school year, and they’ve experienced suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm. 

They’re seeking damages to be determined at trial and a finding that the school district violated Title IX, as well as the 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection. They want a judge to order the school district to put in place policies and training to prevent violations in the future.