ELDRED, NY — A former student of Eldred Junior/Senior High School and his mother allege the student was the target of repeated bullying while attending the school from 2008 to 2013.  Christine Horne and her son, Anthony  Motta, brought a lawsuit that was initially thrown out of court, but the appellate court had a different view, and now the lawsuit is heading for trial in Monticello on October 16. Horne said, “there were disputed facts in the case and it had to be remanded back to the trial court for trial. Although the Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) doesn't allow for a private cause of action for bullying, negligent supervision is still in play and there are plenty of disputed facts that need to be tried to establish that the school was negligent in keeping my boy safe.”

She also said, “There's not a witness in this lawsuit that wasn't either bullied themselves or has a close relative or friend that was also bullied. Bullying is rampant throughout the school. This lawsuit is only about the school district's lack of response to bullying.”

She described the incidents leading up to the lawsuit. She said initially Motta tried to hide what was going on in the school, but when he became more and more withdrawn and his grades dropped, his parents finally got him to tell them what was going on.

“We didn't know about it at first. Slowly we saw him being more and more reclusive to the point where we sat him down and forced him to tell us what was going on. After that, we took up with the teachers, counselors, principal, even the superintendent, “she said.

However, there was no change, and the bullying continued. Despite of frequent appeals for help at the school where the parents were told the school would “take care of it,” nothing was done.

Horne said, “The bullying continued and they did nothing to help, sometimes hurting the situation by blaming the victim. Just about every day he would come home and tell us another incident….they called him “faggot” in front of students, they broke my headphones, threw paper and spitballs at me in class, and so on,  and we would complain. It was like talking to the wall.”

There were four to six bullies who consistently targeted the student, the lawsuit alleges. Because they were minors at the time, only their first names and initials are in public record in the affidavit.

Horne described in more detail what kinds of things happened almost daily, “For years he was teased and called names like ‘spitter,’ ‘bitch,’ ‘cocksucker,’ ‘homo,’ as well as a slew of curses aimed to degrade her son. There are specific incidents where the bullies played “keep away” with his bag, passing it back and forth to each other while the student tried to get it back resulting in them throwing it down the stairs and breaking a cologne bottle which destroyed his homework. The bullies also urinated on his hat.

In another incident the bullies violently threw an orange directly at Motta, causing a huge bruise in the middle of his chest. A physical altercation happened in the library where one of the bullies came up from behind and attempted to choke him, dragging him to the floor to the point he almost suffocated. Another physical altercation that was documented was when Motta was playing basketball in the gym and was “undercut” by a bully, knocking his feet from underneath him and the student banged his head against the floor.

Motta suffered injuries from the attacks, some of them severe. Horne said, “He’s been diagnosed with PTSD in connections with the bullying, and has a ton of anxiety, headaches, and nightmares almost daily that have to do solely with the bullying he endured.  From the choking incident, he had some sort of bulge or herniation in his neck and it still hurts him every so often until this day.”

Initially, Motta didn’t fight back on advice of his parents, but when he finally snapped and fought back, it resulted in him being sent to a psychiatric center for a month.

His mother recounted, “In this sophomore year, he retaliated against one of his perpetrators, was suspended and arrested for assault, sent to Rockland County Psychiatric Center to be evaluated for a month. He had to stay there for the entire month and his parents could only visit.”

After his stay at RCPC he was transferred to BOCES where his grades improved dramatically and he eventually graduated from there.

But initially he had to ride in the same bus to BOCES as some of his tormentors, and even when he was eventually transferred to another bus, they still got to him when boarding where the taunting continued.

And even after he graduated and got a job at Monticello Casino, his problems followed, according to his mother. Horne said, “As in any situation such as this we are worried of any possible retaliation. Principal Scott Krebs has visited the Motta at his job at the Monticello Casino and approached him twice. He had to leave his job both times because his headaches got so bad. He quit that job the second time Krebs approached him there because he didn't want Krebs to run into him again.”

The effects on the family have been mixed. The Horne said, “As a family we have grown closer to support one another especially Anthony. It has not been easy as it has been both physically and mentally draining. He continues to deal with anxiety and headaches on a daily basis as a result of the bullying. “

She stressed several times this is not about winning a lawsuit, but about bringing to light and ongoing situation in the school district.

Horne said, “For the past six years, our family has been fighting against the culture of bullying not only specifically in the Eldred School District as it pertains to our son, but for all children affected by bullying in New York State. It has been a long and agonizing time for our family, both physically and mentally draining on every member. The more we speak out about the need to protect our children, the more we uncover that bullying is more prevalent than ever in our education system. We want all children to feel safe and protected and assure students never go through what our son went through. We hope that when we go to our long awaited trial date on October 16, it will be the beginning of the end of this battle and a culture of compassion and safety will ripple throughout the school district. We intend to hold a rally against bullying during this time period and if anybody would like to show support in any way, please contact teammotta2017@gmail.com.” Horne said, "We are asking people show up on the 18th for the rally at 9:30, bring posters wear orange shirts, # teammotta.

The River Reporter contacted Eldred School District for a comment, but Superintendent Robert Dufour said it was not possible to comment due to the pending lawsuit.