Dallas schools sued after 25-year-old basketball player enrolled and abused classmate
Dallas Independent School District is being sued after a 25-year-old man enrolled in a high school, starred as a basketball player and sexually abused a classmate.
Sidney Gilstrap-Portley enrolled at Hillcrest High School in 2017, posing as a 17-year-old Hurricane Harvey evacuee who was homeless, KXAS reported. He joined the basketball team under the name Rashun Richardson and dominated his younger competition, with coaches awarding him with an offensive player of the year honor, McClatchy News reported.
He also “dated” a 14-year-old girl at the high school and had sexual contact with her, KTVT reported.
After a coach from the high school he actually attended recognized Gilstrap-Portley at a basketball tournament, the charade unraveled and he was arrested, the Dallas Morning News reported. He pleaded guilty to three charges of tampering with government records and indecency by exposure, KTVT reported.
He avoided jail time but had to register as a sex offender, according to KTVT.
The story gained widespread attention, including a lengthy profile of Gilstrap-Portley in Sports Illustrated.
The mother of the teen girl filed the lawsuit on behalf of her daughter, attorney Mai Mullen Milton told McClatchy News. It accuses Gilstrap-Portley of grooming the girl for a sexual relationship, while the school district failed to protect her.
“It should be noted that my client Jan Doe continues to suffer the ill effects of what occurred to her due to the acts of Mr. Gilstrap-Portley and the nonfeasance (failure to act) of those in (Dallas ISD),” Milton wrote in an email.
A spokeswoman said the school district is aware of the lawsuit, but it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
The lawsuit says Gilstrap-Portley was admitted to Hillcrest High School, despite objection by the registrar, to have him play on the basketball team.
The lawsuit also says school officials ignored “red flags” and disregarded protocol by the University Interscholastic League, the rule-making organization for high school sports in Texas. That includes failure to conduct a home visit to confirm residency of a transfer student who wanted to compete at a new school, the lawsuit says.
“Had this been done, (school officials) would have seen (Gilstrap-Portley) was not homeless and was living with his fiance, child, and was not Rashun Richardson as he claimed,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, the girl told her softball coach that Gilstrap-Portley “seemed older” than other students and asked for advice on how to handle the relationship. The softball coach told the girl, “I personally would not say anything because he did not hurt anybody,” according to the lawsuit.
“Due to (the defendants’) interest in having an unstoppable basketball team, which would likely lead to more notoriety, and more monetary grants to the school, (they) showed deliberate indifference when they failed to protect the interest and safety of its students,” the lawsuit says.
After the deception of Gilstrap-Portley was revealed, the girl transferred to another school out of humiliation and an attempt to “not be recognized and reminded of what the defendants allowed to happen to her,” according to the lawsuit.
This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 3:52 PM.