An Oklahoma mother who says her daughter’s school principal forced a middle school student to reveal her bra during a strip search is suing the school district.
According to a lawsuit filed this month in Oklahoma County, Crystal Trenkamp alleges that her daughter was asked to reveal her bra on May 10, 2021, in front of another student and staff at Heartland Middle School. The child, a minor, is identified only by initials.
The lawsuit states that Trenkamp’s daughter was suspected of having a “nicotine vape” and was searched in a room with a “clear view from the open window” of common areas of the school. Heartland Middle School principal Veronica Johnson, a school resource officer and another student were also in the room, according to the suit.
Johnson allegedly ordered Trenkamp’s daughter to lift and turn around her shirt, then asked the child about her undergarments. The lawsuit states that the child was ordered to lift her shirt high enough so that Principal Veronica Johnson could see the minor child’s bra.
According to the lawsuit, no vape pen was found.
Neither Johnson nor the superintendent of Edmond Public Schools immediately responded to a request for comment on Monday.
Trenkamp is suing the district for at least $25,000, alleging that the principal’s actions were disrespectful and crossed “the bounds of all human decency.”
Trenkamp alleges that the principal and the district violated her daughter’s Fourth Amendment rights, as well as laws on sexual harassment and assault.
The lawsuit also accuses Johnson of violating district policy and state law, citing an Oklahoma statute that prohibits nude searches of students. The law states that no clothing “except cold weather outer clothing” shall be removed during a warrantless search of a student.
The lawsuit states, “No reasonable person would conclude that the benefits of unlawfully strip-searching a minor … would outweigh the harms of the search, nor would it conclude that the search, given the circumstances It was necessary.”
Neither Johnson nor the superintendent of Edmond Public Schools immediately responded to a request for comment on Monday.
Julian McShane Contribution,
