Asheville Christian Academy says boy's claims of severe bullying are 'without merit'

Officials at Asheville Christian Academy, a private K-12 school in North Carolina, say allegations that they failed to protect a former 13-year-old male student from sexually and physically exploitative bullying by other students and then tried to cover it up are "without merit.”

The claims were made in an 8-page complaint filed in the Buncombe County Superior Court on Sept. 9, on behalf of the boy identified by the pseudonym John Doe. The complaint accuses school administrators of willful and wanton negligence, and John Doe is now seeking an unspecified amount in damages, to be determined by the court, in excess of $25,000.

"Asheville Christian Academy is aware of the civil Complaint filed against it in Buncombe County. Based upon our investigation, we believe the claims are without merit, and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously through the legal process,” the school said in a statement to The Christian Post Thursday. "Out of respect for the students and families involved, we will not comment further at this time.”

According to the complaint, John Doe, who suffers from an undisclosed medical condition, began attending Asheville Christian Academy in August 2023 at the age of 11. About two years after he enrolled in the fall of 2025, he was "repeatedly bullied and physically and sexually abused by other students attending Defendant ACA.”

"On multiple occasions, other students would ritualistically subject Plaintiff John Doe to sexually abusive and exploitative hazing while Plaintiff was in the shower following gym class. Plaintiff John Doe would come home with ripped clothes or missing shoes because of what other ACA students had done to him,” the complaint alleges.

The filings states that students created fake AI images and sexually explicit videos which were circulated at the school. One ACA student, known as the ringleader in bullying and abusing John Doe, allegedly contacted a convicted pedophile who lives in the area and attempted to set up a relationship with the pedophile in the boy’s name.

According to the lawsuit, the ringleader also gave John Doe’s home address to the known pedophile.

"When ACA administrators learned of this outrageous behavior, they did nothing to abate the conduct or to discipline the responsible students,” the lawsuit alleges.

"Plaintiff John Doe, who deals with medical issues, would often suffer being abused after gym class when Plaintiff's medical condition made him too weak to respond. The abusive students would at times take Plaintiff's emergency medication away from him.”

The lawsuit alleges that even though ACA boasts on its website that they hold themselves to a higher standard, the school did not take any steps to "report, intervene, investigate, discipline, pursue criminal charges, stop the grooming, abuse and exploitation or take any other steps to protect Plaintiff John Doe, and further engaged in [a] concerted effort to cover up the grooming, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of their student Plaintiff John Doe."

When John Doe’s mother confronted the school about her son’s alleged abuse, the lawsuit states that, "Defendant ACA undertook a process of attempting to minimize and/or cover up this egregious situation, including asserting to Plaintiff's mother that it was simply an instance of 'boys will be boys.'"