Sibley, Iowa — Another school district may be added to the civil suit brought by the victim of an alleged sex crime at Sibley-Ocheyedan.
The plaintiffs, identified only as “CA” and “JA” claim that the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community School District was negligent in hiring Kyle Ewinger, a former teacher and coach who is accused of having sexual contact with a student, and that they knew or should have known that Ewinger posed a safety risk to the children entrusted to him. In September of last year, the Sioux City and Mediapolis school districts were added to the suit. The plaintiffs said the other districts were also negligent in not alerting future employers of this conduct, which could have prevented the eventual alleged sexual assault of the victim.
Now, an attorney for the plaintiffs has filed a motion to also include the Akron-Westfield School District in the suit. It alleges that Ewinger was accused of similar acts with children while he was employed by that school district as an elementary teacher between 2006 and 2008, that Akron-Westfield put safeguards in place to protect their students from Ewinger, and that when they were asked about Ewinger by Sibley-Ocheyedan officials, they did not inform Sibley-Ocheyedan of the allegations or safeguards.
The case was supposed to go to trial this October, but will be delayed to give attorneys more time to gather information.
In addition, the plaintiffs’ attorneys are also asking for a change of venue, citing a community meeting at which several people came out in support of Ewinger and a survey they conducted, which indicated that many potential jurors could not be impartial if asked to serve. A judge has yet to rule on both the addition of Akron-Westfield and the possible change of venue.
Ewinger has also been charged in a criminal case with Second Degree Sexual Abuse in connection with the alleged incident in October 2015, when Ewinger is alleged to have spent the night in his middle school classroom with a student and is accused of engaging in sexual activity with the boy. Ewinger has pled not guilty. The trial in that case is scheduled at this point for August 28th.
Ewinger was sentenced in April to 55 to 85 years in prison for first degree sexual assault of a child in a similar case in Nebraska. Those crimes are said to have occurred in 2012 and 2013.
Related stories:
http://kiwaradio.com/local-news/former-sibley-ocheyedan-teacher-sentenced-to-prison/
http://kiwaradio.com/local-news/other-schools-added-to-civil-suit-against-sibley-ocheyedan/
