The former student who is suing V.I. government agencies and officials over sex abuse he suffered at the hands of disgraced Charlotte Amalie High School track coach Alfredo Bruce Smith has filed a first amended complaint, adding former CAHS principal April Petrus to the list of defendants.
Now an adult, the former student first filed suit in V.I. District Court in December as John Doe, to protect his privacy as a sex assault survivor, naming the V.I. Education and Human Services departments, Board of Education, Government of the Virgin Islands, former CAHS principal Alcede Edwards, teacher Camelia Febres, Smith, and 20 Richard Roes — as-yet unidentified officials alleged to have known about Smith’s conduct.
Along with naming Petrus the amended complaint, filed Tuesday, also provides more detail about her retirement and that of Edwards late last year amid what the Education Department said was an ongoing investigation into Smith’s abuse, which federal prosecutors said spanned from 2006 to 2021, when he was arrested by agents with Homeland Security Investigations.
Smith, 54, subsequently pleaded guilty last April to 20 charges that included aggravated second-degree rape; first-degree unlawful sexual contact; coercion and enticement; and production of child pornography. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison and is currently incarcerated at the Miami Federal Detention Center.
Collectively, all the defendants in the civil suit are accused of depriving the plaintiff of his bodily integrity, violating the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause; failure to train staff; state-created danger; three counts of conspiracy; civil conspiracy; civil assault; civil battery; and negligence.
The Virgin Islands government, Board of Education and Education and Human Services departments are accused of quid pro quo harassment, creating a hostile environment, deliberate indifference, failure to train, and retaliation.
The Board of Education has filed a motion to dismiss the suit, claiming it has not been properly served with the complaint under federal and V.I. Rules of Civil Procedure, because Doe failed to also serve the governor, “and as such, the Court lacks personal jurisdiction over Defendant.”
The amended complaint disputes that assertion, stating that Doe complied with the requirements of the Virgin Islands Tort Claims Act “as to defendants including GVI, VIDE, BOE, and VIDHS, by filing his written Notices of Intention to File a Claim” against them with the Office of the Governor, and also providing a copy to the attorney general within 90 days.
Otherwise, Edwards is so far the only defendant to reply to the suit after U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Alan Teague gave him a deadline of March 20 to respond. He did so by filing a motion asking the court to order a “more definite statement” from Doe, saying the complaint is a “quintessential ‘shotgun’ pleading” and that he needs more information to mount “a fact-specific qualified immunity defense.”
Edwards also questioned whether he is being sued in his official or individual capacity, which the amended complaint cleared up: He, Petrus, Febres and the Roes 1-20 are all being sued in their individual capacity, meaning the lawsuit seeks to hold them personally liable for damages and not the government entities they worked for.
Edwards and Petrus were placed on administrative leave late last year amid an internal investigation by Education into the handling of the allegations against Smith. They subsequently retired — Edwards on Dec. 16 and Petrus on Jan. 16.
A parallel Department of Justice investigation, led by Attorney General Gordon Rhea, seeks to uncover systemic failures that enabled Smith’s abuse. Speaking with the Source in December, Rhea said the findings were expected shortly but also stressed the gravity of the situation.
The amended complaint includes details about Education’s investigation that were reported by the Source in January, including a statement by department spokeswoman Shayla Solomon that the suit says was “suggestive of Edwards and Petrus’s culpability.”
Solomon said at the time that “as a result of the investigation and the facts revealed, personnel changes have been implemented within the Department to ensure the integrity, accountability, and effectiveness of our operations. While specific details regarding these changes cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality protections under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, we want to assure the public that decisive action has been taken to address this matter responsibly.”
According to the amended complaint, while Solomon alluded to “facts” uncovered by the investigation, “certainly the inference to be reasonably drawn is that Edwards and Petrus were and are being investigated and that details as to their culpability, and the culpability of others, such as potentially Febres, may be available following the investigation.”
Federal prosecutors confirmed that school officials were notified at least twice — once in 2018 and by again by Doe’s mother in 2019 — that Smith was behaving inappropriately with students, “but he was able to continue raping children for years before federal investigators acted on a report and finally put a stop to his crimes in 2021,” the complaint says.
“Upon information and belief, and especially in light of the recent retirements by Edwards and Petrus in the face of investigations, these school officials include Edwards, Petrus and Febres,” it claims.
The lawsuit details four assaults against Doe in particular, including in February 2019 when Smith forced him off campus and attempted to lure him into his home, but Doe escaped and hid in a school van. Earlier that month, it says Smith “grabbed, choked, squeezed and fondled” Doe and made lewd comments to him in plain view of the defendants during a track practice at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School. In another incident that March, Smith assaulted Doe in the school van during a track practice on the pretense of “massaging” the child’s injured hip, it says.
When Doe became “terrified” to go to Puerto Rico for a track meet that was scheduled just a few days after that incident, because Smith said they’d be sharing a room, his mother called a meeting with school officials who dismissed her concerns and said that because she and her son did not spend any money on the trip, they could not “call the shots,” the complaint alleges. That meeting included Febres, trip chaperones, a CAHS teacher, and Smith himself, who the suit says was “visibly angry.” The officials were aware of the sleeping arrangements, it adds.
“Upon information and belief, defendants, including Edwards, Petrus, and Febres, with actual and constructive knowledge of Smith’s abuse, knowingly and deliberately approved of, sanctioned, and permitted this completely inappropriate dorm room arrangement,” the suit alleges.
“Predictably,” it says, once Doe was trapped in the room with Smith, Smith sexually assaulted him. Doe ran from the room and called his mother, who reported the incident to Edwards and Febres, who “falsely promised they would speak with Smith and address the situation,” the complaint alleges.
The only reason Smith was finally arrested in September 2021 was because Doe’s mother reported the conduct to Homeland Security Investigations after exhausting efforts to convince school officials to act, it says.
Petrus had not responded to the lawsuit as of Wednesday but denied wrongdoing in a letter sent to CAHS students, faculty and staff upon her retirement in January.
She expressed frustration at being unfairly targeted amid the ongoing investigations in the letter, and cited the 2021 arrest and conviction of Smith as a major factor in her decision to retire, despite the abuse predating her tenure.
“Given recent actions of the Department of Education, I feel that I am being unfairly targeted as the one who must be held responsible,” Petrus wrote. “There were others in the school and in the department who had information, even before I was assigned to CAHS as principal in August of 2019.”
Petrus stated that she reported concerns to her supervisor and the Human Services Department upon receiving information. She reflected on the broader challenges CAHS faced during her tenure, including understaffing, financial constraints, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these difficulties, Petrus highlighted her accomplishments, including maintaining the school’s accreditation and fostering student success. “I leave fully confident that I gave my best to CAHS, as I did to all the other schools in which I was assigned,” she wrote.
Education said at the time that other updates would be forthcoming as permitted.
“While we understand the community’s desire for transparency, we are legally obligated to respect the privacy of individuals involved and safeguard the integrity of the process. We remain committed to fostering a safe and secure environment for all students and staff,” according to the statement. “Updates will be provided as permitted, and we ask for your continued understanding and patience during this time. The safety and trust of our students remain at the forefront of everything we do.”
