The San Antonio family who filed the lawsuit says the incidents started in 2021. They alleged their son was verbally harassed, bullied and sexually assaulted.
SAN ANTONIO — A second lawsuit has been filed against Central Catholic High School in a span of four months, this one accusing the school of being negligent and causing “severe emotional distress” while a student endured bullying, harassment, assault, and sexual assault.
The San Antonio family who filed the lawsuit says the incidents started when their son began his freshman year in 2021. They alleged their son was verbally harassed, assaulted, and sexually groped in the bathroom, and beaten up by other students.
“There were also times when he would be using the bathroom and other students would be videotaping him,” the family’s attorney Jesse Guerra said.
According to the lawsuit, filed on Oct. 30, the incidents got so bad that their son had to finish the spring of his freshman year by attending school after normal school hours.
The lawsuit also says the student had suicidal thoughts, suffered from depression and trauma, and had to seek psychiatric services. The principal of the school, a counselor, and other members of the faculty visited the family’s home to assure them it was safe for the student to return to school for his sophomore year in the fall of 2022.
“Mentally, he is so damaged that his parents are in the process of declaring him mentally incapacitated,” Guerra told KENS 5.
The bullying allegedly continued into his sophomore year, despite the school staff members’ assurances. The complaint accuses one teacher, Charles Delgado, of “ridiculing him in front of his other classmates.”
The school has lax enforcement of anti-bullying rules and code of conduct rules, the lawsuit goes on to allege, as well as a culture of silence and secrecy for reporting things to the administration. Students who witnessed these acts were allegedly not told by school staff that they had a duty to report improper behavior.
“Central Catholic had an anti-hazing and bullying policy according to their own Parent/Guardian and Student Handbook, described as a tier 3 violation therein, but it was rarely enforced,” the complaint alleges.
The students, the suit states, made “over 30 trips to the school” to speak with administrators about the alleged bullying and “get them to take action.”
This comes after another lawsuit was filed earlier this year, when another family alleged their son was bullied, hazed, and sexually assaulted by his soccer team between January and April of 2025.
Central Catholic High School released the following statement in response to the new lawsuit:
“The attorney who filed a lawsuit against Central Catholic High School in July has filed a second lawsuit involving a separate set of allegations dating back to 2021 and related to a different Central Catholic student who withdrew in 2023. Based on the well-documented nature of the student’s withdrawal, Central Catholic strenuously denies all allegations in the lawsuit.
“In our ongoing commitment to the safety and protection of all Central Catholic students, we take all allegations of misconduct very seriously and we remain confident the facts of this case will demonstrate Central Catholic acted appropriately and in line with our mission and values.
“Further, all Central Catholic employees are trained on and accountable for the requirement under Texas law to immediately report any suspected abuse or neglect to the appropriate authorities. Likewise, Central Catholic students and parents are advised that such behavior will not be tolerated and are encouraged to report misconduct via an incident reporting form provided in the Parent and Student Handbook, issued each school year to Central Catholic families.”
The new lawsuit names Principal Lee Hernandez, Dean of Students Daniel McCarthy and faculty member Charles Delgado as defendants. The plaintiffs requested a jury trial and are also seeking a court order for Central Catholic to revise its rules pertaining to reporting incidents of bullying and assault.
“They want people to know that they cannot be silenced, and not just hold students accountable, but hold the administration accountable,” Guerra said.