BOISE, Idaho — As the Boise School District continues making headlines for teacher suspensions and school walkouts, a new lawsuit filed in federal court outlines allegations of negligence from 2022 at Fairmont Junior High.
The lawsuit, filed October 6 by the parents of a minor student, accuses the Boise School District, Fairmont Junior High School, and then-principal Christopher Ryan, of "failing to investigate and report complaints regarding Scott Crandell's abuse and potential abuse and grooming of minors, including [their daughter], to law enforcement authorities or the Department of Health and Welfare."
Scott Crandell was the school social worker at Fairmont Junior High School. Court records obtained by Idaho News 6 state that Crandell died by suicide December 17, 2022 one day after police seized his cell phone during a traffic stop. The documents say Boise Police began investigating after a tip was submitted to Crime Stoppers on December 8 that said:
“A school social worker (Scott Crandell) having an inappropriate sexual (?) relationship with a 14 year old student. This is happening at Fairmont Junior High School in Boise. I want to be clear that I do not know if this is a sexual relationship, but we are concerned it is and want law enforcement to investigate.”
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Public court records also show more than one active lawsuit against Ryan and the Boise School District. In a response filed in a separate lawsuit in August involving another minor student, the Boise School District and Christopher Ryan formally denied all accusations made against them.
All parties have requested jury trials.
The latest lawsuit claims Crandell "engaged in predatory sexually abusive acts towards students" while working as the school social worker and "manipulated and groomed students", including their daughter, "for his sexual gratification to the harm and detriment of [their daughter's] health and wellbeing."
Ryan has been on paid administrative leave with the Boise School District since May, and was previously facing several misdemeanor charges related to the accusations involving Crandell. That case was dismissed in September. Ryan's lawyer tells Idaho News 6 his client plans to plead not guilty to future charges and "will vigorously defend himself against any claim that he has done anything wrong."
The latest lawsuit accuses Ryan of being aware of complaints involving Crandell's "inappropriate behavior with another student on school property" that prompted a police investigation, "yet, principal Ryan did not remove Crandell from Fairmont Junior High, he did not confront Crandell about his behavior, nor did he take appropriate steps to assure that Crandell had no contact with [their daughter]."
The parents explain in the lawsuit that after police began investigating, they learned Crandell was regularly pulling their daughter out of class for "nap time" in his office, which "included closing the door and pulling the shades."
The lawsuit claims Crandell "was grooming [their daughter] to the point where she was dependent upon Crandell emotionally."
Idaho News 6 has reached out to Ryan's attorney, seeking additional comment in response to the latest lawsuit.
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This isn’t the first time sexual abuse allegations have surfaced involving staff at Fairmont Junior High. In April, teacher and basketball coach Eric McDermott was arrested and accused of raping a teenage student and ultimately plead guilty to sexual battery on a minor for a 2020 incident involving a teenager.
McDermott is currently serving a seven-to-20-year prison sentence.
If you have a news tip related to this topic, please email Karen.Lehr@kivitv.com.
