DES MOINES, Iowa — During the third day of the Safris vs. Urbandale Schools trial the mother of the victim allegedly sexually assaulted during class took the stand, claiming the family was not provided enough assistance by the school.

Jodi and Michael Safris filed a lawsuit against the Urbandale School District claiming the schools’ negligence and failure to follow school policy led to their daughter being sexually assaulted during class and eventually led to her becoming suicidal. The lawsuit says that the victim sent nude photos to a male classmate who later shared those photos after she refused to go out with him. According to testimonies and court documents the victim and male classmate sat near each other in English class, where the assault and some distribution of the photos occurred.

Dr. Patrick Keating, a child and adolescence psychiatrist, gave his testimony Thursday morning. Keating provided care and assistance to the victim over a long period of time, helping form a team to help her recover after the incident in school. During his testimony he commented on the lasting effects of the assault and the continued influence on her behavior and mentality.

“What’s documented here are intrusion symptoms, so she’s describing having frequent memories in relation to the sexual assault. She’s describing emotional distress, her psychological distress that has brought upon recollection of these memories. She’s describing negative changes in her thinking patterns, blaming herself for what happened. It’s also a common feature of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), a limited scope on her future outlook,” said Keating.

Another classmate and student in the classroom during the reported incident took to the stand and confirmed that they had seen the male classmate inappropriately touching the victim. The student reported seeing the male classmate put his hand through a hole in the victim’s jeans and hold onto her thigh. She also reported seeing other instances of the male student touching other students, including the victim, in a manner that would likely make people uncomfortable.

Jodi Safris, the mother of the victim, gave her testimony Thursday afternoon. Jodi talked about her daughter’s childhood and how different of a person she became after the reported incidents. She then discussed the lack of options that the school provided in helping to create a better learning environment for her daughter and to investigate the reported issues.

“We were asking if she could be moved from the team, she was on the other color team, and Loren said that they don’t do that and that, that wouldn’t be an option. But what would be an option is that she could have an adult advocate that she could go to if she was feeling upset at school,” said Jodi.

Jodi later stated that due to the extent of the issues her daughter faced, she didn’t feel that an adult advocate would be able to provide proper support for her daughter. The Safris family eventually made the choice to move their daughter out of the school and spent the next several years working to make sure she received a full education.

The final testimonies of the day were delivered by a fellow classmate during the alleged assault and her mother. She stated that she never saw the male classmate inappropriately touching the girl, but that she had seen the photos that were being shared, in a different class, around the same time the alleged assault was happening. Once the classmates mother took the stand, she was asked if the school had reported these incidents to her.

She testifies that Loren DeKruyf never notified her that her daughter had been shown inappropriate photos and that she was never notified that her daughter had been pulled aside and questioned by Loren DeKruyf about the incident.

The testimony of the classmate’s mother was the final one heard on Thursday. The trial will resume Friday with a new witness, who has not been announced.

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