State must pay $14 million in McKinley High sex abuse case

News admin October 14, 2026 0 Comments

State must pay $14 million in McKinley High sex abuse case

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaiʻi taxpayers must pay more than $14 million after the state Department of Education allowed repeated sexual assaults of an intellectually disabled girl at McKinley High School, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court ruled last week, ending a 15-year legal battle.

Background of the case

The girl, identified in court documents as “Amy,” had an IQ of 40 and the thinking ability of a 5-year-old. McKinley High School placed her in regular education classrooms and, over the years, at least a dozen boys took advantage of her, according to the family’s attorneys.

“She would do what they told her to do,” said Susan Dorsey, attorney for the disabled student. “The kids were telling the teachers what she was talking about. And the more this got out, the more boys were coming to her.”

Mother learns of the abuse

Amy’s mother, Randi, is a hairdresser and raising Amy on her own. She said she did not know about the abuse until her daughter told her a boy had hurt her.

“I remember just driving, and just having to keep a complete straight face, and just screaming inside, because I didn’t want to disturb what she was saying, to make it seem like she was wrong,” Randi said.

Dorsey said when Amy was traumatized, she had “a catastrophic psychotic breakdown” and was hospitalized for three months.

“She just wanted to end her life because of everything that had happened to her. Yeah. Sexually,” Randi said.

Dorsey said the court experience further traumatized Amy.

“No child should ever have to endure this level of torture, that they put her through. Three years of sexual abuse of a child and they never took responsibility for it. To this day, they have never taken responsibility,” Dorsey said.

Fifteen years of litigation

Attorneys Dorsey and Eric Ferrer took the case in 2011, the start of 15 years battling the Department of Education and the attorney general.

“They spent years blaming her. They spent years blaming her mom. It was really an egregious case,” Dorsey said.

The attorney general insisted on questioning Amy under oath in a series of depositions. She was in her early 20s at the time but still clutched a stuffed monkey for comfort.

“It was hard for her. She had so many nightmares, because she’s around people that she don’t even know, and having to ask her questions about things that had happened to her, and, um, questioning her in a way where it was her fault and my fault,” her mother said.

“They wanted to break her and have her admit to something that would be good for them,” Dorsey said.

Supreme Court ruling

After more than 10 years in court, Judge Jeff Crabtree found the Department of Education negligent, but ruled the boys involved were responsible for a third of the damages. Both sides appealed.

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled last week that “there was extensive evidence that school personnel knew of Amy’s significant cognitive disabilities, recognized her extraordinary vulnerability to sexual exploitation, were repeatedly confronted with warning signs that she was being sexually abused, but failed to take reasonable measures to prevent it.”

The court held the state responsible for all $14,167,354 in damages, plus 10% interest.

“That’s what I would be angry about as a taxpayer, that it costed them a lot more than it would have had, originally, they taken responsibility for what had happened,” Dorsey said.

Randi said she is thankful for the ruling.

“I’m thankful, so thankful for it, because there’s so many other families that are going through so much grief, and it’s about time that things… be made right,” Randi said.

The attorney general’s office said it is reviewing the implications of the ruling but did not answer additional questions.

Amy is now 32 years old and will need specialized care for the rest of her life.