The former school resource officer at Charlotte's Myers Park High School, accused in a high-profile lawsuit and in the media of ignoring and downplaying reports of sexual assault, was the responding officer to incidents at the high school that led to six arrests, according to court documents filed this week.
In a court filing by the city of Charlotte, lawyers say Charlotte-Mecklenburg police records show that officer Bradley Leak, who was assigned to Myers Park from 2013 to 2018, logged in seven reports of sexual assaults in his time there. The records, the city says, “demonstrate that (Leak) routinely and actively documented such allegations” and undercut the notion that he “failed to report instances of sexual misconduct between MPHS students.”
The filing is part of a lawsuit by an anonymous former student referred to as Jane Doe, who says she was sexually assaulted near Myers Park’s campus in 2015 by a fellow student and that police and administrators didn’t take her accusations seriously. Court records show that police investigated but filed no charges in the case.
Media coverage of the incident and the subsequent lawsuit led to additional former Myers Park students coming forward with allegations of sexual assault and harassment, which they said were largely ignored. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and CMPD largely remained silent, leaving Charlotte media — led mainly by WBTV’s Nick Ochsner — to portray administrators and police as indifferent to young women who reported being sexually assaulted. The Ledger reported in September, though, of the existence of court documents with CMS’ and CMPD’s version of events, which provided a more complete and less black-and-white explanation.
CMS also settled a different lawsuit for $50,000 last spring, after a student reported in 2014 that she was raped in the woods next to campus by an ex-boyfriend six weeks earlier. A judge dismissed Leak and the city from the lawsuit before CMS agreed to pay the former student. CMS also reassigned Myers Park principal Mark Bosco to a different job at the same pay.
The city said in court documents this week that Leak, the school resource officer, responded to the following reports between 2014 and 2017:
- April 24, 2014: “Sex offense — Assault/Sexual Battery (Adult)/Forcible Fondling — Victim reported suspect assaulted her by forcible fondling. … Cleared by arrest”
- Feb. 2, 2015: “Sex Offense — Assault/Sexual Battery (Adult)/Forcible Fondling — Victim reported that the suspect touched the victim’s breast without permission while at MPHS. … Cleared by arrest”
- Oct. 7, 2015: “Sex Offense — Assault/Indecent Exposure — The victim reported that the suspect exposed his penis to her in class at MPHS. … Cleared by arrest”
- March 22, 2017: “Sex Offense — Assault/Sexual Battery (Adult)/Forcible Fondling — The victim reported that the suspect grabbed her buttocks without permission. … Cleared by arrest”
- Sept. 29, 2017: “Child Sexual Assault/Sexual Battery/Forcible Fondling — The victim reported that the suspected grabbed her buttocks without permission. … Victim chose not to prosecute.”
- Oct. 27, 2017: “Child Sexual Assault/Sexual Battery — The victim reported that the suspect touched her buttocks without permission. … Cleared by arrest”
- Nov. 9, 2017: “Sex Offense — Assault/Sexual Battery (Adult)/Forcible Fondling — The victim reported that she was assaulted by the suspect. … Cleared by arrest”
Lawyers for the plaintiff say there’s a culture of ignoring sexual assault reports, and that Leak lacks credibility because he said in his deposition that he could not recall other instances of sexual assaults. They say Leak “has obscured evidence in this and other sexual assault cases arising at MPHS.”
Lawyers for CMS and CMPD are seeking to dismiss the suit. A hearing is scheduled for April 20 in front of federal Judge Robert Conrad.
This article first appeared in the Charlotte Ledger business newsletter and was republished with permission.