More students allege abuse by former Wasilla elementary school teacher in court case against school district

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December 11 – PALMER – Three other families say a former teacher at Wasilla Elementary School inappropriately touched their children and school officials did nothing to address their concerns prior to his arrest.

A civil complaint filed Tuesday in Palmer Superior Court also identifies a second school official accused of discouraging a parent from pursuing concerns and failing to alert authorities as required.

Lukis Nighswonger, 39, taught at Iditarod Primary School from 2005 until his arrest in 2018 for sexual abuse.

Nighswonger told investigators he was a pedophile who “has been attracted to children for as long as he can remember,” according to prosecution documents. He was charged with 19 counts of child sexual abuse and sexual assault in a criminal case involving at least eight victims.

[Wasilla teacher accused of abuse was fired from retail job for ‘sexual’ touching of customer, lawsuit says]

Nighswonger was a beloved teacher known as “Mr. Nigh” who had taught at Iditarod since 2005 and received a BP Teacher of Excellence award in 2015 – the same year several young victims say he abused them.

A dozen families joined civil lawsuits against Nighswonger and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough school district in 2019.

A lawsuit filed at the time cited the district and former Iditarod manager Scott Nelson as defendants. He claimed school officials dismissed concerns about Nighswonger even after parents shared specific stories from their children detailing the abuse.

Four of the original plaintiffs have since moved in, according to Myron Angstman, a Bethel lawyer whose firm represents some plaintiffs, as well as the Wasilla office of Gregory Parvin.

The three new plaintiffs are all parents of students who say Nighswonger touched them inappropriately, Angstman said. The students were in fourth grade at the time, two in 2017-18 and one in 2013-14.

Further, the complaint names a school teacher, Molly Young, and alleges that she failed to respond to complaints about Nighswonger and violated district and state reporting policies.

The story continues

One of the three families said their son told them that Nighswonger “repeatedly exploited and assaulted him” throughout the fourth year in 2011 and 2012, according to the new complaint. They reported the situation to law enforcement, the school and the district.

Nelson, the then principal, was dismissive and kicked the boy’s mother out of school, threatening legal action if she kept “reporting on Nighswonger assaulting her son,” the complaint says.

She then went to the school district offices to file reports and received a similar welcome there, according to the complaint: “Like Nelson, (district) staff demanded that she leave school property. and threatened her with legal action if she continued to report Nighswonger’s sexual assault. his son.”

Six years later, another mother learned from her son that Nighswonger “was grooming, exploiting and mistreating him in the classroom and in the school locker rooms,” the complaint says. The boy “refused to go to school unless he was wearing an oversized belt that was pulled tight around his pants.”

That parent turned to Young, a friend, but the teacher was dismissive and told him that Nighswonger would never behave inappropriately around children, the complaint says. According to the complaint, Young discouraged the parent from taking action and did not report his concerns as required by law and district policy.

Nighswonger later admitted that Young and Nelson contacted him and warned him of the reports from both parents, according to the complaint.

Young could not be reached for comment. The teacher was still listed on the school’s website on Friday.

School district spokeswoman Jillian Morrissey declined to comment on Wednesday when asked about Young and then emailed a statement: “The district is not commenting on pending litigation.”

Plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit filed this week are seeking a judgment to be determined by a jury, punitive damages against Nelson and the teacher, as well as attorney fees and other costs.

Nighswonger remains in jail at Anchorage Correctional Complex on $ 1 million cash bond. A trial in his criminal case is currently scheduled for April.

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