A man is suing a former Diomede School teacher and the Bering Strait School District over allegations that the teacher sexually abused him as a student two decades ago.
The plaintiff identifies himself by the pseudonym John Doe in his complaint, filed in Nome Superior Court on Aug. 12. He also alleges that district officials failed to protect him despite warning signs.
The Bering Strait School District declined to comment on the case.
Doe identifies the former teacher as Kelli Rosenbaum, now known as Kelli Hurdle. She no longer lives in Alaska.
An attorney representing Rosenbaum formally denied the claims in a written response to the complaint and asked the court to dismiss the case. The attorney, David K. Gross with the Anchorage-based firm Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from KNOM.
According to Doe’s complaint, Rosenbaum taught on the remote Bering Strait island during the 2004-05 school year, when he was in “approximately the ninth grade.”
He alleges the abuse began around Halloween 2004, when Rosenbaum invited him to watch a movie in her classroom after telling him his sister would also be present. He claims his sister never arrived and Rosenbaum initiated sexual contact. He further alleges repeated sexual contact and sex continued after school, in school facilities and in Rosenbaum’s classroom and apartment, which Rosenbaum says was separated by “a wall of file cabinets.”
Doe alleges Rosenbaum manipulated him into keeping it secret and used the isolation of Diomede to continue the alleged misconduct.
Doe alleges the school’s principal at the time, Elise Davis, became concerned that Rosenbaum and the student were spending an inappropriate amount of one-on-one time together, conducted an internal investigation, spoke with both individuals and notified district officials. The lawsuit also says district representatives traveled to Diomede before Rosenbaum abruptly left the community.
The complaint contends the district and its employees were aware, or should have been aware, and that district employees failed to report the activity. State law mandates teachers and certain other professionals report child abuse to law enforcement.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and other relief to be determined at trial.
