Federal lawsuit accuses Attala County school resource officer of strip-searching high school boys

McADAMS — Parents of seven male students are suing the Attala County School District, the county and 13 other defendants, alleging that the boys’ constitutional rights were violated when they were strip-searched at McAdams High School. 

The boys, all McAdams High students, were individually escorted into a room on Feb. 10 and made to strip naked or nearly naked, squat and, in some cases, bend over, for an inspection by a school resource officer and colleagues, according to the federal lawsuit filed on June 15.

Three plaintiffs told Mississippi Today they were told by district officials a bathroom vape detector had triggered the search, but no e-cigarettes or other contraband was found.

“We are here seeking justice for our children,” Arma Cooper, who is suing the district on behalf of her son, said Wednesday. Her son is referred to as B.C. in the lawsuit. “I am deeply saddened by the actions of our educators, our district, to allow such things to happen and violate our men.” 

“My son will never be the same.”

Attorney Keith French, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the incidents violated the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure. He contends the incident also violates the boys’ 14th Amendment rights, which grants freedom from government invasion of their “intimate bodies.” 

French also alleges school employees violated the Mississippi Torts Act, which protects residents from “offensive touching or invasion,” among other violating behavior.

The lawsuit accuses school resource officer Leroy Wise, who is also a sheriff’s deputy, and colleagues of apprehending students near the bathroom without sufficient explanation or consent. Principal Dietrich Harmon, who is also a defendant, allegedly monitored the detained students while the searches were underway. 

Other defendants include Superintendent Rhyne Thompson and 10 unnamed staffers.

Mississippi Today reached out to the Attala County School District multiple times for comment.

“Right now, we can’t discuss anything that’s in litigation,” said April Jones, who serves as the assistant business manager for the district and answered a call routed to the superintendent’s office. Nicholas McClain, the district’s attorney, did not respond to a request for comment. 

District officials acknowledged the incident broke school policy, according to the lawsuit.

The Attala County school board mandates that employees “take reasonable and conventional measures to maintain control and discipline students.” Those measures may include “force, restraints, and ‘on-the-spot’ correction,” the district’s personnel handbook states.

French, the attorney representing the students, said the strip searches were “grossly disproportionate to any legitimate school-safety need” and “sexually invasive.”

The lawsuit contends that students did not consent to the searches and were threatened with suspension if they did not comply. The students were released to their classes after the searches.

“When we send our children to school, we give the school our trust. We do not give them dominion over our bodies,” French said. “And if the response is denial, delay, minimization or damage control, as (the Attala County School District) seems to be doing, then what they’re really saying is your child’s pain is inconvenient and the institution matters more than they do.”

Some of the students reported anxiety, violent behavior, sleep disruptions and social withdrawal after the incident, the lawsuit states. Some have sought counseling and medical care as a result. Three parents told Mississippi Today their sons quit their athletic teams soon after the strip searches because the SRO also patrols school sporting events.

‘I was told there was nothing to worry about’

Penny Ellington could tell something traumatic had happened before her son talked about the search. While driving her son, referred to as K.H. in the lawsuit, and his younger cousin home from school, Ellington heard the boys having a tense conversation about something that happened earlier that day. She thought there may have been a fight.

As she merged onto the main road home, her son began to describe being strip-searched by the school resource officer. 

His story spurred tears she struggled to suppress as she drove, Ellington said. She didn’t want her son to see her cry. 

She recalled her experience being assaulted as a child. Then, she said, she thought about how she couldn’t save her son from danger at his school.

Over subsequent weeks and months, Ellington said, she noticed K.H. withdraw from friends, activities he used to enjoy and other hobbies. He would lie in bed under the covers in the dark.

“And you don’t know whether to trust somebody grown or not because you don’t know if they got your interests at heart,” she said. “I didn’t want for my child to be assaulted, but he was assaulted.”

Chitina Johnson’s son, referred to as D.L. in the lawsuit, didn’t go to classes for the rest of the week after the searches. He said he felt sick each morning, and Johnson wanted him to rest. Now, he goes home to use the bathroom during the school day, she said.

Three parents told Mississippi Today that district officials reached out to them about “an incident” on Feb. 10 but assured them their children were cleared of wrongdoing. They said they got the runaround when they reached back out after their children described the graphic details of the searches. Three parents received apologies, others didn’t.  

“I was told there was nothing to worry about, that it was handled. He was trying to rush me off the phone almost,” Tiffany Greer, whose son is referred to as A.G. in the lawsuit, said of a conversation with Attala County schools Superintendent Rhyne Thompson. 

“My child was really going to the bathroom and he had to be treated like a prisoner,” she said she kept thinking afterwards. She said she was particularly angry when she heard that her son was threatened with suspension if he did not expose his genitals for an officer to search.

“If there’s no changes, my child wants to move districts,” Johnson said. “I’m looking to see if there are changes in the district, too.”

“The personnel changes should have happened immediately anyway”

Six of the plaintiffs told Mississippi Today they are hoping for accountability and for district officials to explain why the strip search happened. They said they still don’t understand how a vape detector siren set off a chain of events that led to the alleged violation of their children’s constitutional rights.

“It makes it hard to just be comfortable and okay with sending your child to school knowing that it has taken place,” Greer said. “Because then you have all kinds of questions like, ‘Has this happened before or will this happen again?’”

Mississippi Today reporter Devna Bose contributed to this report.