Brentwood Police Close Investigation Of Alleged BA Rape

BRENTWOOD, TN -- Brentwood Police announced Wednesday that the department has closed its investigation into allegations of locker-room sexual assault at Brentwood Academy. No criminal charges will be filed and there was no wrongdoing from school officials, the department said.

The announcement the three-year-long investigation has come to an end comes just days after a Williamson County judge dismissed a civil suit brought by the alleged victim against the school.

"Following numerous interviews with students, school staff, and parents, the CPIT team concluded no criminal charges will be pursued," BPD said in a release. "In addition, no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Brentwood Academy staff was discovered."

CPIT is the Child Protective Investigative Team, a joint unit of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services and the district attorney-general's office.

The department did not elaborate on how the decision to close the case was reached and said there would be no further comment. The investigation's documents will remain confidential to protect the victim's identity.

According to a lawsuit filed by the alleged victim - identified as John Doe - and his mother, Jane Doe, four then-eighth-graders raped, sexually assaulted and sexually harassed a 12-year-old in the 2014-15 academic year. When the boy's mother broached the topic with BA administrators, she was told by her son's counselor "this isn't how Christian institutions handle these things" and the school's headmaster Curtis G. Masters told John Doe " "everything in God's kingdom happens for a reason" and "turn the other cheek."

The school has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

That lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice by Judge Deanna Johnson last week. That was considered an unusual move, as that type of dismissal essentially bars the plaintiffs from re-filing the suit. The Does' attorneys had asked the judge to dismiss the case without prejudice which would have allowed it to be re-filed.

An appeal in the civil matter is expected.

Image via Shutterstock