Prodigy was a 'play thing' for UAB athletes: suit

Watson Brown: "The charges leveled against me and my staff are completely false."

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- What began as a triumphant moment for a 14-year-old prodigy entering college as one of the youngest freshmen in Alabama evolved into a sordid story of alcohol and drug addiction, turning the young girl into a "play thing" for football and basketball players, her parents charged Thursday.

The parents of the girl, identified only as "Jane Doe," filed a $40 million civil suit against the University of Alabama-Birmingham accusing school officials, coaches and others of doing nothing to stop it "despite this knowledge of sexual exploitation."

The suit was filed on behalf of the girl and her family in Jefferson County Circuit Court by Birmingham attorney John Whitaker.

"I didn't want to file this lawsuit," Whitaker told CNN. "But all we got from the university was, 'Not our fault.'"

VIDEO Parents of a University of Alabama-Birmingham student filed a sexual assault lawsuit against the school. Affiliate WBRC's Alan Collins reports (August 31) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

He said the university violated the girl's rights under Title IX, which says no person should be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

"Knowing that sexual harassment was going on, they in effect denied her her educational rights," Whitaker said.

The university called the suit "a cynical attempt to extort money by slandering this institution and its employees."

UAB said it has launched an investigation into the matter.

"From everything we have been able to determine, the serious allegations made against UAB and its employees are entirely without merit," said university President W. Ann Reynolds. "I am outraged by this spurious lawsuit, which we will fight and are determined to win."

The university also cast doubt on the timing of the suit: UAB's football team opens its season Thursday night. The suit alleges football players and basketball players sexually abused the girl, and that some coaches knew about it.

"This lawsuit is obviously calculated to damage the reputations of some of the finest people I know. That they would shop this story to the media and file suit on the morning of our first football game tells you what their true motives are," said UAB head football coach Watson Brown. "The charges leveled against me and my staff are completely false."

The suit names the university's board of trustees, five administrators, the head football coach, the campus's chief of police and more than 20 student-athletes, including the starting quarterback.

It seeks $20 million in compensatory damages and $20 million in punitive damages.

'Protected environment'

According to the suit, the girl entered college just before her 15th birthday under guarantees from the university that she would receive special treatment and protection because of her age -- "that she would be 'watched' and that the university would provide for all additional care and protection needed for someone so young."

"That is to say, they were told that the dormitories were a safe, protected environment in which 'Jane' could live," the suit says.

The girl's mother allegedly told Warren Hale, director of student housing, and Susan McKinnon, the assistant vice president for Enrollment Management, that should any problems arise "they should call her and she would come to help 'Jane.'"

"Without these assurances, neither 'Jane' nor her parents would have accepted the scholarship offer to attend UAB. Likewise, UAB would have never had the public relations advantage of trumpeting the fact that they had the youngest college student in the state," the lawsuit says.

The girl's first quarter was one of academic success, as she earned a 3.5 grade point average during the spring of 2000.

Alcohol, drugs

But things soon spiraled out of control when she had to move from her dormitory into Blazer Hall, a dormitory that houses many UAB football and basketball players, according to the suit.

It was during the summer of 2000 that she had her first sexual encounters with athletes, often after they gave her an alcoholic beverage, the suit claims. It also says that university officials knew of the alleged drinking, but "they did nothing to stop it."

"Thereafter, the drinking and sexual abuse in campus dormitories with (football players) increased at a mind-spinning rate, with none of the parental oversight promised by the university," the suit alleges.

"'Jane' essentially became known as the 'white, 15-year-old that would have sex with athletes.'"

And then things got worse, according to the suit.

Parents not notified

The girl began drinking liquor and smoking marijuana, with the smoke emanating "from her room and throughout the dormitory," the suit says. It said she then turned to cocaine, ecstasy and LSD. The suit even claims a university hospital employee began exchanging morphine with the girl for cocaine.

At one point in the fall of 2000, the girl passed out after drinking numerous Crown Royal shots and had to be treated for alcohol poisoning. Her parents were never notified, the suit claims.

Her grades plummeted. She skipped classes for months and had a 1.9 GPA in her last quarter of school, the fall of 2000. "No professor or teacher defendant ever notified her parents," the suit says.

It wasn't until December of that year, just before Christmas break, that the girl's mother learned of her daughter's problems, according to the suit. That's when a man who said he was a UAB policeman called to let the mother know that 'Jane' "had been breaking curfew, had not been going to class and that her grade point average was 1.9. For almost half a year, 'Jane' had been repeatedly sexually abused, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and the first contact to her parents came as a result of a call initiated by 'Jane's' mother."

Over Christmas break, the parents put the girl in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. She never returned to UAB.

"The university's actions and inaction culminated in the withdrawal of 'Jane' from school and an end to her dreams of completing her degree and beginning her career before reaching 19 years of age," the suit says.

"'Jane' is now forced to look forward only to alcohol and drug programs, evaluation for the existence of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, and work to repay debts."

A UAB spokesman, asked why the case wasn't settled out of court, simply said, "I can't answer that question."