Baltimore schools sued by former students alleging the system protected
a predatory teacher
[June 03, 2025]
By LEA SKENE
BALTIMORE (AP) — Three women are suing Baltimore’s public school system,
alleging they were sexually abused by a special education teacher
decades ago while administrators failed to protect students from his
predatory behavior.
One of the plaintiffs was 14 when she alleges the teacher, whom the
lawsuit names as Alvin Hunt, raped and impregnated her, according to the
complaint.
At a news conference Monday morning, attorneys for the women said school
officials knew about the abuse and allowed it to continue. They said
Hunt would lure students to his house under the pretense of after-school
tutoring. The allegations contained in the lawsuits occurred in the late
1970s and early 1980s.
Baltimore City Public Schools spokesperson Sherry Christian confirmed
that Hunt worked for the district as a teacher from 1975 until his
retirement in 2005, then returned as a substitute from 2010 to 2019.
“Due to the ongoing legal proceedings and out of respect for the privacy
and rights of all individuals involved, especially our students, we are
unable to comment further,” she said in a statement.
Attempts to reach Hunt were unsuccessful.
The lawsuits add to a growing pile of child sexual abuse claims filed in
Maryland since the state eliminated its statute of limitations for such
cases. Lawmakers approved the Child Victims Act in 2023 with abuse
findings against the Catholic Church in mind, but its impacts have
extended well beyond religious institutions. The state’s juvenile
justice system in particular is facing widespread reckoning after
thousands of victims came forward.
Pamela Coleman said she gave birth to Hunt’s daughter after he drugged
and raped her. Hunt offered the teen a ride home from school and gave
her a cigarette laced with an illicit substance that caused her to lose
consciousness, her complaint says.
“My childhood and teen years was just ripped from me,” Coleman said at
the news conference. She said her mother reported the abuse and
administrators transferred her to another school after learning she was
pregnant.
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Attorneys Billy Murphy, left, and Janai Woodhouse look on as
Collette Lee speaks about how a Baltimore special education teacher
sexually abused her decades ago during a news conference Monday,
June 2, 2025 at the offices of Murphy, Falcon Murphy in downtown
Baltimore. (AP Photo/Lea Skene)
The AP doesn’t typically identify victims of abuse unless they want
to be named.
Attorneys said Hunt, who was also a sports coach, never faced
prosecution or accountability for his actions. Instead, he retired
from the school system after a long career. He is not named as a
defendant in the lawsuits, which were filed against the Baltimore
City Board of School Commissioners.
“This abuse was not just known, it was normalized,” said attorney
Janai Woodhouse with the Baltimore law firm Murphy, Falcon & Murphy.
“This wasn’t hidden. It was tolerated.”
She said the Child Victims Act allows abuse survivors the time they
need to come forward, often decades later. Before its passage,
victims couldn’t sue after they turned 38.
The three plaintiffs were young and vulnerable when they were abused
by someone they trusted, their attorneys said.
“You can imagine the amount of psychological trauma that was
inflicted here. So it took some time,” Woodhouse said. “But they
gathered the courage to come to us and they’re ready to seek justice
now.”
According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Collette Lee, she went
to Hunt’s house for tutoring with another special education student.
He cornered her and tried to assault her, but she says she managed
to escape.
“I was able to run,” she said during the news conference. “I’ve been
running for a long time. I’m tired. I want justice.”
The lawsuits were filed Friday in state court. The plaintiffs are
seeking punitive damages.
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