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Teen says sex abuse by female teacher scarred him; files suit against district

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An 18-year old who claims he was sexually abused by a Hilton Head Island High School teacher in 2003 filed suit Friday against the Beaufort County School District and the school board.

The suit states that the district and school board members were negligent because they did nothing to prevent the abuse from occurring and under-reacted afterward.

The teacher, Rebecca Robertson-Shaffer, now lives in San Diego, Calif., according to the attorney who filed the suit, Thomas A. Holloway of Beaufort. She resigned as a Spanish teacher in February 2004 after being charged with having sexual intercourse with the plaintiff, then 15, and contributing to the delinquency of two other students.

Robertson-Shaffer, then 25, subsequently pleaded guilty to committing a lewd act on the boy and received an 8-year suspended sentence and three years of probation. She was allowed to move out of South Carolina with her husband, who was in the military, but must register as a sex offender for the rest of her life.

Robertson-Shaffer could not be contacted Friday night.

John Williams, spokesman for the school district and board, said the district hasn't reviewed the lawsuit and declined to comment.

The case is one of "an ongoing series of teachers molesting children in schools," Holloway said, and schools in Beaufort County "are part of the epidemic."

The suit stated the boy suffered severe emotional harm from the relationship, was "viciously teased" by other students and expects to have "emotional issues intermittently for the rest of his life."

When the case surfaced in 2003, school officials emphasized that the misconduct occurred away from the high school and after hours.

The suit, however, recounts incidents that occurred at the high school, where the teacher allegedly was "grooming" the boy. Grooming is a slang term that refers to a pedophile using deceitful methods while pursuing a child for sexual gratification.

On several occasions and "in plain view" of school administrators, Robertson-Shaffer would "inappropriately touch, rub against and/or hug the then-minor plaintiff," the suit says.

The former teacher is not being sued because state law forbids suits against individual government employees for acts that occur on the job. Only their employers can be sued, Holloway said.

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