Sibley, Iowa — A settlement has been reached in the civil lawsuit filed against four Iowa school districts stemming from the sexual abuse of a student in the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community School District back in 2015.
The $650,000 settlement was announced by one of the attorney’s for the 10-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted by former Sibley-Ocheyedan teacher/coach Kyle Ewinger. That assault took place, in part, in Ewinger’s classroom at the school. According to attorneys, all four school districts were included in the settlement, which was approved by all four school boards.
According to the attorney’s news release, the suit was filed against the Mediapolis Community Schools, Akron-Westfield Community Schools, Sioux City Community Schools and the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community Schools. The suit alleged that Ewinger had committed a similar assault on a student when he taught at Mediapolis, however that district reportedly entered into an agreement with Ewinger that, in exchange for his voluntary resignation, the District would not report the conduct to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, and would provide him with a “neutral letter of recommendation for future employers.” The suit also alleges the Akron-Westfield Community Schools discovered the information after hiring Ewinger, and failed to report it to Ewinger’s future employers.
Next, the suit alleged, Ewinger was employed at the Sioux City Community Schools, where another allegation of inappropriate student contact was made against him. However, according to attorneys, the Sioux City Schools failed to properly investigated the allegation and failed to communicate the information to Ewinger’s future employer, the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community Schools.
Ewinger pled guilty to sexually assaulting the young student in the Sibley-Ocheyedan district in Osceola County District Court, and is currently serving a prison term.
