Alabama school board paid $200,000 to settle rape lawsuit

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama school board has revealed that it paid $200,000 to settle a lawsuit by a student who said she was raped in a bathroom after a school worker tried to use her as bait to catch a predator.


Madison County schools spokesman John Southerland confirmed the dollar amount Wednesday. An agreement was reached in March to settle a federal lawsuit that says a 14-year-old girl was attacked in 2010 at Sparkman Middle School near Huntsville. Details of the settlement weren't disclosed then.

The girl's attorneys said a teacher's aide had asked her to meet in a school bathroom with a 16-year-old boy as part of a ploy to catch the boy trying to have sex with the girl. They say the plan backfired and the girl was raped.