Senator Calls for Investigation into St. Mark's Cathedral School after Lawsuit Filed
By Nick Lawton
Back in April, a Shreveport mother spoke out to us anonymously about her lawsuit against St. Mark's Cathedral School for her son, identified as M.R. We've now obtained documents showing a Louisiana Senator asking for a full state investigation into the school. The mother's lawsuit alleges her then 12-year-old son was expelled for his behavior with his cabin mates on a 2014 school field trip to Pine Cove. The school claims the boy inappropriately touched the other boys, behavior his mother claims did not happen. "He agreed that he and several other boys were playing these same type of games, just boy dormitory-type behavior, but he was the one that was told on," his mother said during an April 7 interview. The lawsuit alleges that even though the camp counselors denied M.R.'s inappropriate behavior and a local psychologist reported M.R. showed no signs of sexual deviant behavior, St. Mark's still expelled him for "inappropriate touching of other students when not in the presence of adults." The mother is suing the school, asking if this sexual abuse did happen, why didn't Head of School Dr. Chris Carter follow LA R.S. 14:403, the Mandatory Reporter Law? Louisiana State Law Revised Statute 14:403 requires teachers and child care providers to report any child abuse to authorities. According to the Attorney General’s Office, willfully not doing so is a felony. Both the Shreveport Police Department and Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office told KSLA News 12 they did not receive any reports about M.R. or any sexual abuse at SMCS in 2014. Less than a month after our original story aired, District 3 Senator JP Morrell, of New Orleans, sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Landry on April 28. Morrell helped sponsor 2012's Act 614, which stiffens the punishment for willfully not reporting suspected child sexual abuse. In part of his letter to AG Landry, he wrote: "My office has been contacted concerning an event at St. Mark's Cathedral School in Shreveport, Louisiana. It has been stated that Dr. Chris Carter, Head of School, suspected that a student had been sexually abused. However, he did not report the sexual abuse, which he would be required to report according to LA R.S. 14:403. I am requesting that your office investigate this alleged criminal act." When we contacted the AG's office, they told us they do not confirm or deny the existence of any investigations as part of procedure. Dr. Carter's attorney, Edwin Byrd, did not return our request for comment as of news time. The mother's attorney said her lawsuit will be heard in federal court on February 21, 2017 at 8:30 a.m.
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