Custodian Files Lawsuit, Claims She was Raped by Coworker at Ben Davis

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis custodian has filed a lawsuit against a local school district over allegations that she was raped by a coworker while employed at Ben Davis High School.

A civil complaint was filed last week in Marion Superior Court 6 against both Ben Davis High School and the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township. The plaintiff is described as a former custodian who was employed by the district and worked on Ben Davis’s campus.

The filing, which demands a jury trial and damages, describes how the woman worked with the janitorial team at the high school throughout mid-2024. It was during this time that she claims a co-worker, identified only as T.W. in the lawsuit, sexually assaulted her at least seven times.

First assault, dismissed reports

T.W. reportedly made the alleged victim uncomfortable during work, trying to hug her and making comments about her safety. The lawsuit alleges that when these concerns were brought to the head of the custodial team, the plaintiff was told to “leave it alone.”

During May and June of 2024, attorneys say that unwanted touching from T.W. escalated into groping and her genitals being grazed. After this, a second complaint was allegedly filed. However, the alleged victim said that nothing came of it.

The lawsuit claims that, during a shift in late June 2024, T.W. picked up the alleged victim and carried her out the door and into an SUV parked on campus. The suspect reportedly set a timer for 40 minutes and proceeded to forcefully undress and sexually assault the victim.

After the 40 minutes had ended, court documents allege that T.W. pulled out a firearm, pointed it at the woman’s head and threatened her by saying, “Don’t do anything stupid; no one is going to believe you.”

The alleged victim said she ran to an empty classroom and called 911, getting connected to a dispatcher who was able to speak about the assault. The lawsuit claims dispatch called a “school security officer” to the scene, who left once T.W. told them it was “merely a prank.”

Attorneys for the alleged victim also claim that the head of custodial services “did not ask police to conduct an investigation” and that the allegations were dismissed. The woman was reportedly not allowed to go home after calling 911 and was forced to finish her shift in bloody clothing.

Continued assaults, alleged drugging

The alleged victim said in her lawsuit that, despite requests to change shifts, she continued being scheduled with T.W. during late-night hours. It was during this time that she alleges four other sexual assaults occurred.

During one reported incident in Sept. 2024, the woman claims that during a shift with T.W., she began to feel “weak and dizzy.” Seeing her “compromised state,” T.W. then allegedly forced the woman’s clothes off and raped her. She now believes she was drugged by T.W., the lawsuit says.

Attorneys argue that, because the woman was told nothing could be done after reporting the first assault, she found it futile to report the subsequent attacks. The lawsuit claims that “similar episodes of sexual assault, including rape, continued for months” during her shifts.

The alleged victim noticed that her boss “forced her to work with T.W., which made it easy for him to rape her when they were alone.” She also claims that she would fall into a similar, “severely weakened state” prior to every attack that followed.

The lawsuit claims that T.W. was “finally terminated” in the fall of 2025, only after the alleged victim gave the school’s assistant principal footage of him groping her during a shift. The woman has reported suffering both mentally and physically because of the assaults, and her attorney confirmed that she is no longer working for Wayne Township schools or Ben Davis.

Police response, civil suit filed

An Indianapolis Metropolitan police report filed on March 25, 2026, details how a victim made a delayed rape complaint with IMPD.

The IMPD report states that several forced sexual assaults were alleged to have occurred between June and September 2024. The report details an unnamed suspect with the initials T.W. and states that an “IMPD officer was dispatched to a rape investigation.” No other information is in the report, including a suspect name or additional details.

FOX59/CBS4 reached out to Wayne Township School Police officials on Monday morning for comment and clarification on the lawsuit, but has not heard back as of 6 p.m. Monday.

In a statement sent Monday afternoon, the MSD of Wayne Township acknowledged that they are “aware of the lawsuit that has been filed.”

“As this is an active legal matter, we’re unable to address the specific allegations. We’ve engaged legal counsel and will be addressing this through the proper legal channels. What we can say is that we take this matter very seriously, and the safety and well-being of every person in our district matters deeply to us.“

At the conclusion of the lawsuit, attorneys representing the alleged victim say they are asking for a jury trial to be held against Wayne Township Schools and Ben Davis High School. The lawsuit’s allegations include civil liability and negligent hiring, supervision and retention.

The lawsuit also requests that the court enter a judgment against the defendants “in an amount that includes compensatory damages, general and special damages, punitive damages and all other relief.”