OTHS and Prairie State Games named in suit

O'Fallon Township High School and Prairie State Games are being sued in St. Clair County Circuit Court by a young woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted while a spectator of the state's largest amateur sports festival on June 22, 2004.

Plaintiff Jane Doe claims the high school, which hosted the event, was negligent for failing to provide security guards, failing to provide a security system to observe participants, failed to investigate individuals participating in the games and failed to "provide areas where participants, including spectators, in the Prairie State Games could be protected from physical or sexual assault," the complaint states.

According to the suit, Jane Doe was assaulted by one or more male spectators of or participants in the Prairie State Games.

Co-plaintiff Joan Doe, plaintiff's mother, claims her daughter has been "unable to perform academically in the same manner and to the extent as experienced prior to the attack, and further has been barred from participation in further sporting activities, all of which is a detriment to her continued academic career," the complaint states.

Joan Doe claims her daughter incurred medical and psychiatric expenses and will require such treatment in the future.

Jane Doe was a minor at the time of the incident, but is now an adult, according to the complaint.

Represented by Gerald M. Dunne of Dunne-Bodet of Belleville, the plaintiffs are seeking in excess of $50,000 in damages, medical expenses, plus costs.