A lawsuit claims Perkiomen School and its headmaster acted negligently in response to an incident of sexual abuse involving two boys on campus earlier this year. On Monday, the mother of the alleged victim filed a civil suit in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. It lists the school, located at 200 Seminary Street in Pennsburg, and Head of School Mark Devey as defendants.

            Bucks County attorney Jillian Roth, representing the mother, who claims her seven-year-old son was assaulted by a 12-year-old boy during a basketball game 10 months ago, argues that the school and Devey showed reckless indifference in security concerns. Roth also claims both did little to support and protect the victim.

            The incident allegedly occurred in an equipment closet at the Hollenbach Athletic Center on Feb. 3, 2024. The suit, that claims the closest should have been locked, identifies the victim as John Doe and the plaintiff, his mother, as Jane Doe.

            In a statement issued Monday night, Devey told the school community that he and the school informed the authorities regarding the alleged incident in accordance with its mandated reporter requirements. He declined to comment further, citing a duty to protect the privacy of minors.

            Both children involved in the incident have parents with past connections to the school's basketball program, according to the filing. It states that the victim's father previously coached the boys JV team. It also identifies the 12-year-old's father the former head coach of Perkiomen School's National basketball team.

            The lawsuit accuses Devey of shielding the National head coach and his son from any negative consequences and engaged in a course of conduct that caused further harm, injury and mental damage to the victim and his family. It also alleges the school allowed the coach to give his son a swipe card that provided access to campus buildings and rooms restricted to faculty use only.

            Toward the end of his father's basketball game, the victim asked his mother for permission to take a drink from a water fountain in the hallway and see if the 12-year-old was playing in the building's Blue gym. After 10 minutes, the mother became concerned and went to look for him. She found him in a closet in the gym, where she observed him with his pants down, according to the legal document.

            After the game, the victim told his parents that the older boy told him that if he wasn't allowed to conduct sexual acts, the younger boy would not be allowed out of the closet or allowed to ride the older boy's scooter anymore.

            The victim's father returned to the school and informed the National coach of what Jane Doe had witnessed. The boy's father said he was mandated to report the issue to the police, according to the 34-page document.

            The family reported the incident that day to the Upper Perk Police, according to Roth, an associate with Stark & Stark, a firm located in Yardley. She also said the agency conducted an investigation at the time.

            According to the lawyer, the child also underwent an examination by the Sexual Assault Response Team at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Matthew Boaman, a lieutenant with the Upper Perk Police Department, declined to share any information on the incident in an email message received Tuesday.

            According to Roth, the victim continues to struggle with the physical and emotional effects of the incident. The lawyer said he has received significant support from his family.

Following the incident, the victim's father was told the National coach's son would be prohibited from being on campus. However, the lawsuit claims the school and Devey allowed the boy to freely roam the campus, including play on a field near where the victim and his family lived.

            The family no longer lives in campus housing, according to Roth. She declined to say if the father is still teaching at the school.

            The document also claims the school made false representations to its students and staff regarding its safety practices and security measures. It describes the practices and measures as wholly inadequate, often broken, inoperable or disregarded.

            The suit alleges that the school and the headmaster were alerted in writing in 2022 and 2023, by their own security staff that cameras on campus were not working properly. It states that those concerns "were outright dismissed and buried by Devey and his administrators, who did not want such security warnings communicated in writing."

            The victim's father is no longer coaching the JV basketball team at the school. The former National head coach took a job as an assistant coach at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. He is the team's coordinator of player development.