BOISE, ID – Two parents filed a $50 million sexual abuse tort claim against the Boise School District Thursday — the second such claim in the past six weeks.
Both claims center on Gavin Snow, a former special education assistant at two Boise schools. Snow, 22, died by suicide in January, taking his life as Boise police attempted to arrest him on child sexual abuse charges.
The latest claim involves Snow’s time at Boise’s Cynthia Mann Elementary School. While Snow worked at Cynthia Mann in 2023, the claim says, school officials failed “to investigate and report complaints regarding Gavin Snow’s abuse and potential abuse of minors.”
The claim was filed on behalf of a Boise couple and their child — who is identified only by initials. It names the district and Cynthia Mann Principal Jeff Farley as potential defendants.
The six-page claim accuses the district and Farley of “negligent hiring and retention.” The claim says Farley first hired Snow, then a teenager, to work as a special education paraprofessional. But according to the claim, the district and school failed to monitor Snow and investigate his conduct. Among the claim’s specific allegations:
- The district “never conducted an independent investigation” into Snow’s conduct at Cynthia Mann. The district only investigated abuse allegations stemming from Snow’s subsequent time at Valley View Elementary School, “and reported to parents and the public that the matter was ‘isolated.’”
- The district did not use badge logs or payroll data to check Snow’s work schedule while at Cynthia Mann. “Instead, the district and (Cynthia Mann staff) relied entirely on the recollection of employees from years ago.”
- Consequently, the district and Farley cannot assure Cynthia Mann parents that Snow was never alone with special education students, “that he did not assist them in toileting or that he did not have access to sexually abuse or exploit them.”
A tort claim is not a lawsuit, but it is a precursor to filing a civil suit against a public agency. The family’s attorney, Andrea Rosholt of Garden City, says the damages “are not fully known at this time,” but could include pain and suffering, psychological damages and punitive damages. Total damages “are in excess of $50 million,” according to the claim.
Spokesman Ryan Hill confirmed Thursday that the district received the tort claim. Hill declined to comment directly on the claim, but said school district officials “remain committed to transparency and the safety and well-being of our students and staff.”
Hill also referred to an April 9 district statement on the district’s Valley View investigation. Noting that Boise police found evidence of “multiple instances of misconduct involving more than one student at Valley View,” district Superintendent Lisa Roberts publicly apologized to school parents and staff.
Less than a week later, on April 14, the parents of a Valley View student filed the first $50 million tort claim against the district. The parents say Snow used his position as a special education assistant “to take, produce and/or make child pornography” of their child. The parents say Snow sexually exploited “numerous students” at Valley View.
Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org.