The family of a teenage boy, referred to as “Jack Doe,” has filed a civil lawsuit against The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain, accusing the elite private school of gross negligence that allowed years of severe bullying to escalate into a brutal sexual assault during an eighth-grade field trip to Costa Rica in April 2025.
The complaint, filed on Friday, names the school, its board, the Alexander Dawson Foundation, Principal Roxanne Stansbury, and several chaperones as defendants. It alleges the school repeatedly ignored documented reports of harassment, dismissed complaints as “boys being boys” or “normal middle school horseplay,” victim-blamed the plaintiff, and failed to enforce its own anti-bullying policies.
Jack Doe, who enrolled in fourth grade at age 10 and maintained straight-A grades while excelling in sports, endured ongoing bullying, including physical assaults and intimidation, from at least 2021 onward. The lawsuit claims staff minimized the behavior, accused him of being overly sensitive, and warned that reporting would trigger retaliation, leading him to remain silent and to survive until eighth-grade graduation.
The alleged assault unfolded on a poorly supervised trip: groups of eight students per chaperone, one unsupervised hour daily, four students per hotel room, and two sharing a bed. On the second night, one boy sought refuge in Jack’s room after being threatened with sexual assault by two others; a chaperone allowed it but took no action.
Police say four boys, eighth graders at the time, now Freshmen, participated in the attack on the seventh night. They pinned Jack down, stripped him, and subjected him to a violent sexual assault that included penetration with a flute and threats to mutilate him if he screamed.
Vaughn Griffith, now 15, allegedly recorded the incident; the video captured Jack’s screams, the perpetrators laughing, and comments acknowledging the act as “clearly sexual” and an “assault.” Las Vegas Metro Police identified the four boys.
Griffith was charged as an adult with possession of child sexual abuse material after a judge cited the crime’s brutality; he posted $20,000 bail in October 2025 under strict conditions and faces a June hearing. Another male juvenile faces juvenile charges during a hearing in February.
Because the assault occurred in Costa Rica, and not the U.S., charges cannot be filed in Las Vegas. And while the FBI’s Las Vegas Child Exploitation Task Force is involved, no federal charges have been filed.
The incident surfaced in May 2025 when one boy showed the video at another school, prompting a student to alert parents. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for the school’s alleged failures before and after the assault.
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