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SE Iowa School Sex Abuse Lawsuit Officially Dismissed

A southeast Iowa school district has been cleared of wrongdoing in a sex abuse lawsuit.

A former student in the New London School District in Henry County filed the lawsuit in early 2012.  The student's identity was concealed by the pseudonym Jane Doe.

Doe claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Gina Sisk, who at the time was a teacher in the New London School District.  Sisk most recently worked in the Keokuk School District.

Doe claimed that she did not realize the extent of the abuse until years later, prompting her decision to file the lawsuit in district court.

The school district argued that Doe waited too long to file her lawsuit because state law reduces the statute of limitations when a government entity is involved.

The district sought to have the case dismissed on those grounds, but was denied at the district court level.  That decision was appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, which did hear the case.

The court ruled 4-3 in June that the statute of limitations had expired and that the district court judge should have dismissed the case.  The justices ordered the dismissal in its ruling.

The attorney for Jane Doe asked the justices to reconsider their decision.  Roughly a week after the request, the Iowa Supreme Court stated that it would not reconsider the decision.

That prompted the filing of a motion in favor of the school district.  It dismissed the lawsuit and required Jane Doe to pay associated legal fees.

Gina Sisk was removed from the lawsuit in April.

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.