Author Topic: Employee at Red Rock Canyon School arrrested  (Read 11057 times)

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Offline Oscar

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Employee at Red Rock Canyon School arrrested
« on: December 28, 2013, 06:13:51 PM »
Quote from: Fox 13 Now
St. George man accused of sexual abuse of three teens
by Brittany Green-Miner, Fox 13 Now, August 3, 2012

ST. GEORGE, Utah – A staffer at a St. George school for troubled youth is behind bars for allegedly sexually abusing three male students.

27-year-old Diarra Niccole Fields was charged Friday with first-degree felony sodomy on a child, first-degree felony forcible sodomy, first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.

According to a probable cause statement, a 16-year-old boy who was attending Red Rock Canyon School told his mother that he was involved in an inappropriate relationship with Fields. During an interview with police, the boy said he knew of another 16-year-old boy involved with Fields.

That second 16-year-old boy confirmed the inappropriate behavior and told police about a third boy, this time 13 years old, who had a similar experience. The 13-year-old boy confirmed those claims.

Fields denied the boys’ allegations and told police he was never left alone with the boys and had never had inappropriate contact with them.

Offline Reddit TroubledTeens

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Re: Employee at Red Rock Canyon School arrrested
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2014, 02:32:41 AM »
Great find, Oscar. I hadn't heard about this.

Offline Oscar

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Lawsuit against Red Rock Canyon School
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2018, 03:54:30 PM »
Quote from: Salt Lake Tribune
Sex abuse victim sues Red Rock Canyon School for allegedly failing to protect students from sexual predator
By Aubrey Wieber, January 23 -2018


A victim of sexual assault at the hands of a staffer at a St. George school for troubled youth has sued the school in civil court, alleging it failed to protect him from the abuse.

The lawsuit was filed against Red Rock Canyon School — a psychiatric residential treatment center for adolescents — and its subsidiaries Thursday. It seeks damages to be determined at trial.

The lawsuit alleges an employee at the school, Diarra Fields, was 27 years old in the summer of 2012 when he engaged in sexual activity with a 16-year-old boy on school property multiple times. The lawsuit alleges Fields also molested two other students at the school.

Fields, now 33, was charged criminally for the sexual abuse in 2012 and pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse in 2014, shortly before he was set to go to trial.

He was sentenced to 210 days in jail with credit for time served and placed on probation. His probation ended March 28, according to court documents.

The civil suit is the second such lawsuit filed by the victim against Fields and Red Rock. A similar lawsuit was filed in 2015, but in December 2016, Red Rock filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming the plaintiff had not complied with prelitigation procedures outlined in the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act.

About two weeks later, both parties stipulated to a dismissal without prejudice, which was approved.

Matthew Feller, the plaintiff’s attorney in the most recent litigation, said there has not yet been any discussion with the school regarding settlement. Red Rock Canyon officials did not return a request for comment.

The lawsuit filed Thursday claims school policy dictated that staff could not be alone with students; however, employees were aware that Fields was spending time alone with students, including the plaintiff.

Feller said while the individual acts of Fields and others like him are unspeakable, he finds it is more appropriate to go after the institution in situations like this.

“Our target in all of these cases is why did it happen,” Feller said. “We see that if a school gives an individual the time, space and opportunity to do these things, it’s going to happen.”

Feller said when a school employee molests a student, the school either failed to enforce policies put in place or failed to institute the proper policies. Either way, the situations are avoidable with proper supervision, he said.

“When that happens, it just becomes a breeding ground for these kinds of events,” he said.