LIVINGSTON PARISH - The parents of a high school student who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a classmate have filed a lawsuit against the Livingston Parish School System, alleging his school did nothing to protect their child or to discipline his attacker.

The student accused in the assault — 18-year-old Karson Jones — was also arrested last month in a rape investigation alongside Kaivon Washington, one of the suspects named in the Madison Brooks case. In that case, Jones — who has no ties to the Madison Brooks investigation — was accused of raping an acquaintance after a night of drinking at Reggie's bar in Tigerland back in August 2022. 

The lawsuit was filed Thursday and aims to hold the Livingston Parish School Board and its employee, Doyle High School baseball coach Tim Beatty, accountable for negligence before and after the incident.

According to the suit, an unidentified player on the Doyle High baseball team was sexually assaulted by Jones, one of his teammates, the morning of March 5, 2022 while they stayed in a hotel for an away game. Both individuals were underage at the time.

The lawsuit explains that Beatty and an assistant coach were the only adults in charge of the students and claims the two should have been awake and supervising them before the game to prevent the sexual battery.

When Beatty learned of the assault, he reportedly went to the school's principal, Lance Dawsey, but neither adult contacted the victim's parents or took disciplinary action against the aggressor, according to the suit. The victim told his mother what happened five days later after being urged to do so by another adult.

His parents say they then confronted Dawsey and insisted that Jones should be arrested, and the principal reportedly "laughed it off," saying the alleged attacker was "the team's best player" and that if he was expelled, the entire school would hate their child.

The filing also references videos substantiating claims that Jones would regularly expose himself at school and baseball functions, saying that nothing was done to address the behavior. 

Jones was arrested for sexual battery in the Livingston Parish case and is awaiting trial. He has yet to be indicted in the Baton Rouge case.

WBRZ reached out to the Livingston Parish School System, to which a school spokesperson responded that the system does not comment on pending litigation.