Baltimore schools sued by former students alleging the system protected a predatory teacher

BALTIMORE — Three women are suing Baltimore's public school system, alleging they were sexually abused by a special education teacher decades ago while administrators failed to protect students from his predatory behavior.

One of the plaintiffs was 14 when she alleges the teacher, whom the lawsuit names as Alvin Hunt, raped and impregnated her, according to the complaint.

At a news conference Monday morning, attorneys for the women said school officials knew about the abuse and allowed it to continue. They said Hunt would lure students to his house under the pretense of after-school tutoring. The allegations contained in the lawsuits occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Baltimore City Public Schools spokesperson Sherry Christian confirmed that Hunt worked for the district as a teacher from 1975 until his retirement in 2005, then returned as a substitute from 2010 to 2019.

''Due to the ongoing legal proceedings and out of respect for the privacy and rights of all individuals involved, especially our students, we are unable to comment further,'' she said in a statement.

Attempts to reach Hunt were unsuccessful.

The lawsuits add to a growing pile of child sexual abuse claims filed in Maryland since the state eliminated its statute of limitations for such cases. Lawmakers approved the Child Victims Act in 2023 with abuse findings against the Catholic Church in mind, but its impacts have extended well beyond religious institutions. The state's juvenile justice system in particular is facing widespread reckoning after thousands of victims came forward.

Pamela Coleman said she gave birth to Hunt's daughter after he drugged and raped her. Hunt offered the teen a ride home from school and gave her a cigarette laced with an illicit substance that caused her to lose consciousness, her complaint says.

''My childhood and teen years was just ripped from me,'' Coleman said at the news conference. She said her mother reported the abuse and administrators transferred her to another school after learning she was pregnant.

The AP doesn't typically identify victims of abuse unless they want to be named.

Attorneys said Hunt, who was also a sports coach, never faced prosecution or accountability for his actions. Instead, he retired from the school system after a long career. He is not named as a defendant in the lawsuits, which were filed against the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners.

''This abuse was not just known, it was normalized,'' said attorney Janai Woodhouse with the Baltimore law firm Murphy, Falcon & Murphy. ''This wasn't hidden. It was tolerated.''

She said the Child Victims Act allows abuse survivors the time they need to come forward, often decades later. Before its passage, victims couldn't sue after they turned 38.

The three plaintiffs were young and vulnerable when they were abused by someone they trusted, their attorneys said.

''You can imagine the amount of psychological trauma that was inflicted here. So it took some time,'' Woodhouse said. ''But they gathered the courage to come to us and they're ready to seek justice now.''

According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Collette Lee, she went to Hunt's house for tutoring with another special education student. He cornered her and tried to assault her, but she says she managed to escape.

''I was able to run,'' she said during the news conference. ''I've been running for a long time. I'm tired. I want justice.''

The lawsuits were filed Friday in state court. The plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages.