Three former Broomfield High School students are suing the school and the Boulder Valley School District in federal court, claiming that school and district staff turned a blind eye to a former teacher and wrestling coach’s inappropriate behavior toward female students.
The complaint was filed on behalf of three female students, all identified as Jane Doe. It claims the girls were victims of sustained sexual harassment, unlawful sexual contact and sexual misconduct by Travis Masse. It claims district teachers, employees and administrators ignored the behavior.
Masse is serving a life sentence for sexually assaulting a 17- year-old female student.
The lawsuit was filed Aug. 11 in U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit claims that Masse first acted inappropriately toward a Boulder Valley student in 2001 at Monarch High School in Louisville.
It also claims that Masse’s behavior at Broomfield High was so widely known that students were aware that he “dated” senior girls.
Named in the lawsuit are Masse; his wife, Jasmine Masse, who is a teacher at Broomfield High; the school district; the Boulder Valley Board of Education; Broomfield High principal Ginger Ramsey; former Boulder Valley Superintendent Chris King; former Broomfield athletic director Mike Lowe; and former wrestling coach and assistant coaches Mark Schmidt, Matt Schmidt and Jason Waneka.
The lawsuit alleges that Jasmine Masse learned of her husband’s behavior but did not report it. It also claims that the district, the school board, King, Ramsey, Lowe and Mark Schmidt “willfully, recklessly and intentionally chose to ignore the behavior” of Masse.
Calls made Monday to Ramsey, school-board members Ken Roberge and Jennie Belval, who represents Broomfield, and the plaintiffs’ attorney were not returned. King also did not return calls, nor did Lowe.
Boulder Valley Superintendent Bruce Messinger, who took over the district July 5 after King retired, said Monday that the district is “aware of the complaint. We have referred it to our attorneys, and we are not in position to comment on pending litigation.”
In May, a jury convicted Masse of sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust and sexual assault on a child by someone in a position of trust with a pattern of abuse. The married father was accused of sending thousands of sexually explicit text messages to one of his students and had been physically intimate with her in late 2008 and early 2009.
Masse was sentenced to life in prison with the earliest eligibility for parole set at 10 years. He also was sentenced to three years for attempting to get another of his underage students to send him nude photos of herself. The sentence for that felony charge — unlawful sexual contact coercing a child — will run concurrent to the life sentence.
