A former student at McQuaid Jesuit High School sued the school in federal court last month, alleging it failed to prevent sexual harassment and assault.

The lawsuit alleges that a teacher and the school administration ignored another student touching the boy’s groin during class. The pattern of abuse culminated with the student attempting to strangle himself in the school nurse’s office, according to the lawsuit.

More generally, the lawsuit depicts “an environment riddled with sexual harassment and bullying,” where students perceived as non-heterosexual or cisgender were mocked with little repercussion. Black students, ethnic minorities and female teachers were also treated with notable disrespect, according to the lawsuit.

“At defendant McQuaid, the ‘boys will be boys’ philosophy prevails over its legal obligations to prohibit sex discrimination, creating the perfect conditions for bullying, sexual harassment, and sexual predation of students by their peers to flourish,” the lawsuit reads.

The time span in the lawsuit is 2021 to 2023, when the boy was in eighth and ninth grade. He is now in 10th grade at a different school.

A school spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit, but said in a statement: “McQuaid Jesuit is guided by our values and our mission as a Jesuit institution and our top priority remains providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students.”

Boy’s attorney says more McQuaid complainants have come forward

The student reported various aspects of harassment but received no productive response from the school, according to the lawsuit.

He entered into a deepening depression and experienced panic attacks. The school informed the Brighton Police Department about the alleged sexual touching but never followed up with a meeting with the plaintiff’s family.

Unlike public schools, private and parochial schools in New York have no public reporting requirements related to instances of discrimination or harassment.

The boy’s attorney, J. Morgan Levy, said she has heard from many other former McQuaid students since filing the lawsuit, all reporting a similar pattern of behavior.

“The family was hoping that maybe they were an outlier and something had just gone wrong in this one instance,” she said. “But the more they engaged with McQuaid, they realized it’s more the rule than the exception.”

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Former McQuaid student alleges sexual assault, harassment