Robert Vandel: Georgia charter school faces 'systemic' sexual misconduct lawsuit after 7th grader raped by teacher
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ROSWELL, GEORGIA: A massive federal lawsuit has been filed against a school in Georgia after they hired a teacher who raped a seventh-grader despite knowing his problematic history as an alleged predator. The family of the student has also filed a lawsuit for the charter school's failure to take action against sexual misconduct.
In May 2022, the 63-year-old teacher was sentenced to ten years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to raping a student. The family of his victim identified as 'Jane Doe II' stated that the teacher was able to isolate the then 13-year-old victim due to the school's "indifference" and also "reckless breakdowns of supervision." According to the family, Vandel was then able to "groom her, sexually harass her, sexually assault her, and rape her," reported Law and Crime.
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Who is Robert Vandel?
Robert Allen Vandel is a former science teacher at a charter school named Fulton Academy of Science and Technology (FAST) in Roswell, Georgia. He is currently serving his sentence of 10 years for raping the seventh-grade student. 11 school officials, the Fulton County School District, former superintendents Cindy Loe and Jeff Rose, FAST, and Fulton County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney, are named as defendants in the family's lawsuit. It also alleged that it was "a systemic problem" that sex crimes against children continue within the school.
Despite allegedly knowing Vandel's history of sexual harassment against both staff and students, the lawsuit pointed out the school's failure to fire the teacher. In 2006, Vandel was taken into custody and faced four counts of sexual battery charges which were known to FAST, according to the complaint. For "showing up at school after drinking and smelling heavily of alcohol," in 2019, Vandel's license was then suspended.
The FAST chose to hire Vandel despite knowing his troubled history according to plaintiffs. After he began teaching at the school, sexual misconduct reports were filed by at least fourteen teachers and seven students with several students reporting FAST about Vandel hitting them using a ruler and also about his inappropriate touch on their thighs, buttocks, and shoulders, as per the lawsuit.
The teacher gave his female students pet names such as "perv," "care bear," and "flirt" and even described to a student two gummy bears being stuck together in a head-to-toe manner and passing the sexual comment. The 63-year-old man also had the habit of giving candies and personal gifts to the female students and even invited them to his home to pick up those items, according to Law and Crime.
FAST scolded teacher who warned about Vandel's misconduct
In 2019, the school supervisors were notified through an email by a teacher who brought their attention to Vandel and warned them that he was "creating situations to be alone with girls." However, the FAST administration scolded the teacher for not understanding "the challenges of being a start-up Charter School,” and called her "dramatic." According to the victim's family, FAST is accused of trying to protect their own reputation as they allegedly deleted emails containing complaints against the rapist.
'Jane Doe II' victim's family explained that these incidents of "indifference" led to the teacher raping their daughter. Following the attack in a classroom in 2020, the victim attempted suicide, developed self-harming behavior, and underwent massive trauma. In the lawsuit, the family who has sought an unspecified amount of damages has included a Title IX for deliberate indifference to sexual harassment in their lawsuit against the school and has also filed for their negligence in equal rights, for wrongful hiring, supervision, and civil rights violation.