Coach, administrators sued for allowing sexual abuse of student | News

MOREHEAD A former Rowan County coach and educator was slapped with a 23-count indictment alleging sexual abuse of a student, and a subsequent lawsuit was filed against school administrators for ignoring repeated reports of the coach’s inappropriate conduct.

Andrew Zaheri, 39, of Morehead was fired from Rowan County Senior High School after he was charged in February 2023 with the rape of a student-athlete, ultimately highlighting institutional and administrative flaws within the school district, according to a civil complaint filed on Tuesday.

According to court records, Zaheri is accused of grooming, harassing, molesting and sexually abusing a minor female, only referred to as Jane Doe in court documentation, beginning when she was a 14-year-old freshman.

“The abuse was made possible by Zaheri’s position and stature within Rowan County Senior High School, and the failure of the institution to act on its knowledge and protect ‘Jane Doe’ from Zaheri,” the complaint reads.

The suit names the Rowan County Board of Education, current Principal of RCSHS, Jordan Mann, Superintendent John Maxey and Andrew Zaheri as respondents.

Principal Mann issued a reply to The Daily Independent‘s inquiries, stating “We cannot comment on pending litigation.”

Superintendent Maxey had not responded to messages from The Daily Independent as of press time.

While the formal indictment documentation against Zaheri yields few details aside from alleging 10 counts of third-degree rape, 10 counts of third-degree sodomy and two counts of promoting a sexual performance by a minor, the most recent civil filings provide disturbing details about the allegations against the coach and teacher.

Zaheri began coaching and teaching within the Rowan County School District beginning in 2007, serving as the assistant boys basketball coach alongside Mann.

Between 2007 and 2011, Zaheri is accused of becoming sexually involved with another young female resulting in the former student becoming pregnant with Zaheri’s child shortly after she graduated from Rowan County, according to the lawsuit.

Per court records, school administrators knew about Zaheri fathering the child with the recent graduate, yet no disciplinary action was pursued or investigation was performed to determine when the relationship between the two began.

Zaheri resigned from Rowan County in September 2011 only to return in June 2013 as a substitute middle school teacher and assistant coach for the high school boys basketball team alongside Mann.

In 2019, Zaheri also became an assistant coach with Rowan County High School’s girls soccer team and, a year later, he became the high school’s physical education and health teacher — when the alleged grooming of Jane Doe began.

Zaheri is accused of obtaining the key to the victim’s hotel room during an out-of-state soccer trip in which Zaheri “smelled her underwear, watched her sleep, fixed her shirt back because her breast was uncovered and took her soiled soccer jersey to sleep with himself,” the complaint reads.

Zaheri allegedly utilized a school-based website to obtain the victim’s home address, after which he is accused of habitually driving past her home to watch her.

Court documents indicate the troubling conduct escalated when the victim turned 16, when Zaheri recruited the girl as his teaching assistant.

According to the complaint, Zaheri began giving the minor gifts, including jewelry and clothing, exchanged letters and text messages and moved toward a physical relationship, both on and off school property.

The complaint alleges Zaheri sexually abused the girl in classrooms, offices, closets and locker rooms — happening so often that Zaheri would request his co-workers cover his class so he could sexually abuse the minor during school hours.

Eventually the “relationship” drew the attention of outsiders and a photograph of the two began circulating on social media — resulting in public scrutiny, according to court documents.

The complaint continues, that in September 2022, multiple individuals reported to the Director of Student Services raising concerns that the pair had been seen out in public alone together and were having private conversations in classrooms — alleging the relationship was “concerning” and “creepy.”

The report was allegedly passed on to Coach Mann, yet he is accused of inaction aside from personally speaking with Zaheri, his close friend, who claimed the instances were all a coincidence.

Once Mann passed the information up the chain to school administration — including Superintendent Maxey — no further investigation was conducted, no reports were given to the victim’s parents, nor did administrators speak with the victim, according to the suit.

“Zaheri’s sexual abuse of Jane Doe continued after each of the aforementioned reported concerns were dismissed by Principal Mann, school administrators and Superintendent Maxey,” the complaint states.

The complaint includes Mann was promoted to principal in the summer of 2022, during which he and Zaheri remained close friends and even joked about marks left on Zaheri’s body deriving from sexual acts with the minor.

“Mann not only failed to conduct a meaningful investigation into Zaheri upon receiving notice of his inappropriate relations with female high school students, but also took affirmative steps to prevent an investigation from being conducted,” the report reads.

By Feb. 13, both Mann and Maxey received additional reports of the alleged inappropriate relationship between Zaheri and the minor, but both failed to act, per the suit.

On Feb. 14, a school guidance counselor reported the allegations to the Kentucky Cabinet of Health and Family Services, and Zaheri was placed on leave.

Zaheri was not terminated until after his Feb. 15 arrest, according to the suit.

All together, the suit alleges a disregard in duties to protect the student and report the suspected relationship to Title IX coordinators and violations of state statutes regarding investigations and resulting termination.

“The school district was deliberately indifferent to sexual grooming, harassment and abuse of which it had direct and actual knowledge,” the suit states.

Rhonda Read, Rowan County’s administrative assistant, confirmed Maxey will be retiring in June — despite his contract end date of mid-2024, according to Lane Report.

“The Zaheri situation is not unique. School officials at Rowan County have deliberately ignored or otherwise inadequately responded to multiple instances of well-known sexual abuse by other coaches,” the complaint included.

In 2012, a “successful male head coach of a female athletics team,” resigned, allegedly for having a child with a former player, who was 26 years younger than him, per court records.

In a press release issued by Attorneys Jonathan Hollan, Sam Aguiar, Matthew Minner and Jonathan Fannin, the partners stated “Principal Mann and Superintendent Maxey must be held accountable for their failures to act when presented with repeated reports from concerned citizens. … They withheld these incredibly alarming reports from her parents. … They swept these concerns under the rug time and time again — all while the abuse continued.”

Zaheri is scheduled to be arraigned in Rowan County Circuit Court on June 2 at 11 a.m.

He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, if convicted.

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mjepling@dailyindependent.com