GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — Attorneys for the parents of a girl allegedly abused by a teacher in the Grain Valley School District filed a lawsuit against the district principal, superintendent, and other school officials, alleging they did not take appropriate action against Matthew Nelson.
Nelson, formerly a teacher at Prairie Branch Elementary School, was arrested in January 2012 and later pleaded guilty to 10 counts of child molestation, five counts of statutory sodomy and one count of attempted child molestation for incidences dating back to August 2008. The crimes involved children under 14 years of age, some under the age of 12.
The lawsuit states the Grain Valley superintendent and assistant superintendent, along with the former and current principal of Prairie Branch Elementary failed to take action against Nelson even though they had knowledge of prior inappropriate contact by Nelson against at least one other student.
In a letter sent home to parents in February 2012, district superintendent Dr. Roy Moss said that someone first filed an anonymous report on teacher Matthew Nelson in 2008, and that the district investigated the allegations with the limited information that they had at the time.
“The school superintendent addressed the concerns of the report with the teacher and the action was documented,” said Dr. Moss in the letter.
FOX 4 contacted the school district about the suit, but our calls were not returned.
In his plea deal, Nelson was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Nelson is scheduled to be formally sentenced on April 25th.