A water polo participant who was allegedly the sufferer of racism and repeated sexual assault at his $50,000-a-year personal college in Los Angeles, has graduated after fleeing abroad.
In a publish on Instagram, Aidan Romain proudly walked throughout the stage at his faculty in Barcelona to get his diploma after being compelled to relocate there to proceed his water polo coaching in 2024.
“Thanks to Dwight World for offering a rigorous training whereas giving me the pliability to pursue my dream and play skilled water polo,” his publish learn.
“The most effective components of this journey was assembly mates from all around the world and studying alongside such a world and achieved neighborhood. Thanks for the whole lot.”
The transfer to Spain adopted the alleged vile assaults in opposition to him which included each day racial slurs and digitally penetrating him on campus, by teammates of his Southern California college, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
The swimsuit alleges his teammate Lucca Van Der Woude and two different teammates repeatedly subjected Romain, who was a minor on the time, to racist and sexual abuse between August 2022 and February 2024.
Harvard-Westlake College, which has annual charges of $52,500, allegedly didn’t report, examine, or take protecting measures after being advised in regards to the reported abuse, in keeping with the swimsuit.
“Van Der Woude harbored and expressed racist, antisemitic, and white-nationalist beliefs in the course of the interval during which he sexually and bodily abused” Romain and different college students, in keeping with the revised lawsuit.
“Van Der Woude recurrently used the slur ‘n—–,’ made denigrating feedback concerning Black individuals and slavery, and engaged in racially hostile conduct” directed towards Romain and different minority college students, the swimsuit alleged.
The papers additionally mentioned Van Der Woude “made repeated antisemitic statements towards Jewish college students and people inside his social circle.”
“In response to witness studies, Van Der Woude referred to a Jewish peer utilizing antisemitic slurs and said phrases to the impact of: ‘You silly Jew, die within the oven,’” the swimsuit learn.
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The swimsuit mentioned that he additionally “continuously glorified sexual violence in opposition to ladies, made repeated feedback referencing rape, recurrently used racial slurs, and made offensive feedback regarding slavery and racial domination.”
“Certainly, Lucca Van Der Woude’s sexually violent habits was not a secret,” the paper learn.
“VanDer Woude’s sexually aggressive conduct and inappropriate touching of teammates have been extensively identified inside parts of the Harvard-Westlake and Los Angeles Premier (“LA Premier”) water polo communities earlier than Harvard-Westlake took significant motion,” the swimsuit alleges.
As well as, the varsity is accused of “retaliating” in opposition to the sufferer after he reported the alleged repeated sexual abuse.
“This surroundings emboldened perpetrators, discouraged reporting, and contributed considerably to the continuation and escalation of abuse in opposition to Plaintiff and different college students,” per the paper.
“In February 2024, after water polo observe, a second teammate cornered Plaintiff within the campus outside showers and brutally attacked him – grabbing his penis and hanging him repeatedly within the testicles over a perceived verbal slight,” per the swimsuit.
A textual content from Janine Jones, who served as Harvard-Westlake’s assistant head of college for neighborhood and belonging, is talked about within the court docket papers, following the alleged assault.
Jones allegedly despatched Romain’s dad and mom the message after they reported by way of electronic mail that their son had been sexually assaulted in February 2024 by a teammate within the college’s outside showers.
“I ought to be seeing Aidan shortly … however I don’t need to make him uncomfortable by checking on him,” the textual content begins.
“I do know your electronic mail was directed in the direction of Terry, Matt, and Jack re not discussing the assault however I needed to test with you simply to verify. I simply need him to know I’m right here for him.”
Harvard-Westlake, by its legal professionals, denied it obtained any report from Romain’s dad and mom that he had been sexually assaulted, in keeping with the lawsuit, which factors to the textual content as “contemporaneous proof.”
A Harvard-Westlake spokesperson advised The California Publish that it “unequivocally disputes many of those allegations that mischaracterize information and the varsity’s actions.”
“The college handled studies of inappropriate habits in its water polo program with urgency and seriousness, promptly initiating an investigation and complying with its obligatory reporting obligations,” the spokesperson mentioned, including that the varsity “additionally cooperated fully with regulation enforcement.”
The extreme emotional misery ultimately compelled Romain to maneuver to Spain in 2024 to proceed his coaching in a secure surroundings, per the swimsuit.
Van Der Woude, as soon as thought-about a future Olympic prospect, is in hiding after the bombshell lawsuit was uncovered.
The 18-year-old, who’s the son of longtime movie assistant director Thomas “Basti” Van Der Woude, was nowhere to be discovered when The Publish visited his dad and mom’ palatial residence in Costa Mesa.
