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A group of five high school “mean girls” in Pennsylvania confessed to targeting a boy with false sexual assault allegations just because they “don’t like him.”
The boy’s parents, Michael J. and Alicia Flood, have launched a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages, claiming the girls at Seneca Valley High School in Pittsburgh “conspired in person and via electronic communication devices to falsely accuse [their son] of sexual assault on two occasions.”
The parents dubbed the group “mean girls” in reference to the 2004 cult classic of a high school clique starring Lindsay Lohan. They are suing the girls' parents, the school district and the Butler County District Attorney's office.
A group of five high school “mean girls” in Pennsylvania confessed targeting a boy with false sexual assault allegations just because they “don’t like him.” (Google Maps)
The false accusations led to the firing of their son from his job at a swimming pool and he was then “forced to endure multiple court appearances, detention in a juvenile facility, detention at home, the loss of his liberty and other damages,” according to a 26-page lawsuit obtained by Trib Live.
He is now being homeschooled and suffers mental health problems, the Flood family claims.
“[The boy] was basically being tortured in school by the other students and investigators, but the administration was only focused on protecting the girls who were lying,” the family's attorney Craig Fishman told the outlet.
"[The boy] was basically being tortured in school by the other students and investigators, but the administration was only focused on protecting the girls who were lying."
“Once the allegations were proven false, they really didn't care one bit about [the boy] and there has been absolutely no repercussions against the girls,” he added.
The family is seeking unspecified civil damages against the parents of the girls, the school district, and the Butler County District Attorney's office.
The first girl accused the boy of assaulting her in July 2017 at the swimming pool. Another girl, named as Megan Villegas, the only one named in the suit because the others are minors, said she was present during the assault.
But the first girl later admitted making up the allegations, saying “I just don’t like him.”
She allegedly justified her decision to fabricate the allegations during a recorded interview with school officials that was obtained by Fishman. “I just don’t like to hear him talk. … I don’t like to look at him.”
"I just don’t like him ... I just don’t like to hear him talk. … I don’t like to look at him."
The boy was charged with indecent assault and two counts of harassment. He pleaded not guilty, but was put on probation.
In October 2017, the same girl who accused him of sexual assault allegedly told her fellow classmates that she would “do anything to get [the boy] expelled.” This led to a bullying campaign by other students against him. In one example provided by the lawsuit, someone taped a word “PREDATOR” on the student’s back during a choir practice.
The male student was hit with another accusation of sexual assault in March. A friend of the first girl told a school official that he sexually assaulted her at her home. The allegations were backed up by two other girls.
This led to the male teen getting charged with indecent assault, criminal trespass and simple assault in April. He was reportedly arrested at the school and spent nine days in a detention center after being deemed a threat to the community.
Just a month later, the three girls recanted their allegations and admitted lying about the sexual assault.
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