Judge upholds accountability claims against Boulder Valley School District
A Boulder judge is allowing a civil case against the Boulder Valley School District to continue. The lawsuit was brought under the state's new Child Sex Abuse Accountability Act. Passed in 2021, the law allows three years for adults who were sexually assaulted as children, between the years of 1960 and 2022, to file civil lawsuits against their perpetrators, and in some cases, organizations that ran the youth programs. It also removes the statute of limitations on future claims for assaults that happen after January 1, 2022.
The lawsuit was filed in January, 2022. Three victims are suing Robert Osborne, a former coach with the Boulder Valley School District, and the District itself. They are asking for unspecified damages.
BVSD filed a motion to dismiss the case in May, 2022. The School District argued that there are no facts to suggest that the it knew or should have known that Osborne was a risk to children. the Plaintiff's attorney, James Avery, argued that the District was in the best position to discover that the sexual misconduct was happening. The judge agreed in a motion filed on August 8, 2022.
Robert Osborne pleaded guilty to criminal charges of sexual assault on a child in 1995, and was sentenced to six months in jail, and 15-years of probation.
