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- LAS VEGAS - The son of radio talk show host Art Bell has filed
a federal lawsuit against the Nye County School District and a former substitute
teacher who is serving a life prison sentence for sexually assaulting him.
Arthur Bell IV identified himself in an amended complaint filed Friday
in Las Vegas. The original complaint, filed in November, listed the plaintiffs
in the case as John and Jane Doe and described them as the "natural
parents of Peter Doe, a minor." In an order entered May 14, U.S. District
Judge Johnnie Rawlinson said she would dismiss the lawsuit if the plaintiffs
did not file an amended document under their true names within 30 days.
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- The crime against Bell's son may have
played a role in his decision in October to end his "Coast to Coast"
program, which is broadcast from his home in Pahrump and has an estimated
15 million listeners on 462 stations nationwide. Bell's show deals with
paranormal events, UFOs and other "X-Files"-like topics. It is
described as originating from the "Kingdom of Nye." "You
may recall about a year ago ... I told you that there was an event, a threatening
terrible event occurred to my family, which I could not tell you about,"
Bell told his listeners on Oct. 13. "Because of that event, and a
succession of other events, what you're listening to right now, is my final
broadcast on the air. This is it, folks. I'm going off the air and will
not return." But Bell did return to the airwaves on Oct. 28, although
he remained mum about the reason for his departure. "That event occurred
and became an absolute crisis on the night that I signed off, actually
prior to it -- something that I thought would take my complete, full-time
attention, and for a period of time of course it did ... and so it was
a very sad thing for me," Bell said.
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- Bell told listeners earlier this week
that the reason for his October departure would soon become public. His
son's lawsuit names former teacher Brian Lepley as a defendant, as well
as the school district, Superintendent Geraldine Harge and Pahrump Valley
High School Principal Jerry Hill. Lepley, 34, was sentenced in May 1998
to life in prison for engaging in sexual acts with Bell's then 16-year-old
son, who is now an adult, and with an 18-year-old man. Prosecutors claimed
Lepley, who is infected with the AIDS virus, supplied his victims with
marijuana and alcohol on several occasions. The substitute teacher was
charged in 1997 with 16 drug- and sex-related counts, including sexual
assault and attempted transmission of the AIDS virus. At the time of the
trial, neither of Lepley's victims had the virus. Lepley was convicted
in April 1998 of most of the charges he faced. He admitted engaging in
the sexual contact but adamantly denied he did anything criminal other
than occasionally supplying underage boys with alcohol or marijuana. The
AIDS charge stemmed from what Lepley described as a four-month relationship
with the 18-year-old, who was never Lepley's student. The young man claimed
Lepley did not inform him about his medical condition and did not use a
condom; Lepley denied those allegations. One oral sex encounter with Bell's
son resulted in a sexual assault conviction and the life sentence for Lepley.
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- Lepley pleaded guilty in November 1998
to additional charges that stemmed from allegations that he had fondled
a 14-year-old boy. Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett estimated Lepley
will be eligible for parole after spending about 15 years in prison. According
to the lawsuit filed by Bell's son, the boy was a student at Pahrump Valley
High School from August 1996 to May 1997. During that time, according to
the complaint, Lepley was a substitute teacher in several of the boy's
classes.
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- The lawsuit claims the teen-ager "was
sexually harassed by Lepley, who used his position of authority to intimidate
and coerce" the boy. "In engaging in this conduct, Lepley was
acting pursuant to NCSD's customs and practices, which for many years have
permitted and condoned sexual relations between teachers and students,"
the document alleges. At least three other teachers have been accused of
sexual misconduct with students at Pahrump Valley High School in recent
years. One former teacher, Joseph Peterson, was sentenced in August 1996
to life in prison for raping a female student in his classroom.
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- Arthur Bell IV's lawsuit claims Harge
and Hill, as Lepley's supervisors, "were responsible for the policies
which allowed Lepley to use his position with the NCSD to sexually harass"
him. Reno attorney Paul Anderson, who represents the school district, has
denied that allegation. Anderson could not be reached for comment Friday
on the amended complaint.
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- The lawsuit further alleges that Harge
and Hill "have known about sexual relations between teachers and students
for years and yet have failed to take any action to prevent teachers from
sexually harassing students by investigating claims of sexual harassment
or misconduct, disciplining the teachers, or seeking to educate and protect
potential victims -- the school's students." According to the lawsuit,
the school district's policies failed to protect -- through education and
the availability of a confidential complaint process -- students from sexual
harassment by their teachers. "Despite having actual notice of Lepley's
inappropriate sexual conduct toward students, none of the defendants took
the necessary investigatory or disciplinary actions against Lepley,"
the lawsuit alleges. According to the document, Bell's son has suffered
physical injuries, as well as severe mental and emotional distress.
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- The lawsuit accuses the defendants of
discriminating against the teen-ager on the basis of his sex. It also accuses
the defendants of negligently hiring, supervising and retaining Lepley.
According to the document, Lepley had a sexual offense history that could
have been discovered with a reasonable investigation. "Defendants
knew or reasonably should have known of Lepley's sexual proclivities and
predisposition to molest children," the lawsuit claims. According
to the lawsuit, Harge directed in 1995 that Lepley would no longer be permitted
to substitute at area middle schools because of complaints.
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- "Through their inaction, defendants
negligently retained Lepley as a teacher and employee of the NCSD after
having been made aware of his abuse of students," the lawsuit alleges.
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- The complaint also accuses the defendants
of assault and battery. Bell's son is seeking unspecified damages. Anderson
has said Lepley is not entitled to legal representation >from the school
district in this case, because his criminal conduct "was outside the
course and scope of his employment." The attorney said the sexual
contact did not occur on school property or during school hours. Neither
Las Vegas attorney John Hawley, who represents Bell's son, nor Bell have
responded to repeated requests for comment on the lawsuit during the past
several months.
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- "I can tell you he's not going to
want to comment about that," Los Angeles attorney Davidson Pattiz,
who is representing Bell in another civil case, said Friday. "It's
something that he needs to deal with in his own way."
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