A woman sued the The Park School in Baltimore County on Thursday alleging she was sexually abused by a math teacher when she was in sixth grade in the 1980s.

Identified as Jane Doe in the complaint, the woman is suing the school under Maryland’s Child Victims Act, which eliminated time limits for people sexually abused as children to file civil actions against their abusers and the institutions that enabled their torment.

The Supreme Court of Maryland is weighing whether the child victims law is constitutional, having heard oral argument from attorneys on both sides of the debate Tuesday. Scores of lawsuits have been filed under the law, which took effect Oct. 1, targeting the likes of churches, schools and youth prisons for abuse committed by priests, teachers and guards.Filed Thursday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, Jane Doe’s complaint alleges that longtime teacher Alfred H. Siemon II began grooming her in sixth grade under the guise of tutoring her. At one point, he asked her to sit on a counter in his classroom and told her he was going to give her a back rub, placing his hands beneath her shirt and bra.

Filed Thursday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, Jane Doe’s complaint alleges that longtime teacher Alfred H. Siemon II began grooming her in sixth grade under the guise of tutoring her. At one point, he asked her to sit on a counter in his classroom and told her he was going to give her a back rub, placing his hands beneath her shirt and bra.

“When Siemon performed this sexualized massage of the minor Plaintiff, she froze with discomfort, shock and fear, unable to figure out how to get out of the situation,” the lawsuit reads.

Siemon allegedly offered the girl’s single mother a discounted rate for her daughter to attend a traveling summer camp he owned, according to the complaint.

“During the Happy Trails Camp trip in the summer of 1983, Siemon began a sustained campaign of inappropriate, sexualized and obsessive targeting of the then 12-year-old Plaintiff,” the lawsuit reads. “Siemon was seen publicly pulling her onto his lap on various occasions for his own sexual gratification. … He incessantly asked the Plaintiff to come to his room alone, offering incentives like candy or snacks.”

The camp’s co-owner allegedly witnessed the abuse and told Park School and the girl’s mother about it. According to the complaint, the school’s then headmaster, F. Parvin Sharpless, met with the mother and denied the abuse occurred, “but rather blamed Plaintiff by stating that ‘little girls get crushes on their teachers.’ ” The headmaster did not report Siemon to the authorities.

Reached by phone, Sharpless, 94, denied having met with the mother or saying that to her but acknowledged “it’s pretty hard to be sure of my memory.”

Sharpless told The Baltimore Sun that the summer camp director said Siemon “made this girl feel uncomfortable. I didn’t figure there was anything I could do about it.”

“He was not a good teacher,” Sharpless continued, “and part of the problem was the way he handled students and we eventually … I had a meeting with him where I told him he had to change his behavior with students. And he was upset and resigned. But there was never any incident of abuse by him at the school by him or with any school student during school time. I was never aware of any abuse or incident that would have required reporting to the authorities, and nor were any of my staff.”

Park School has a faculty and curricular advancement program named after Sharpless, who stepped aside in 1995.

Siemon remained at Park for five years after allegedly abusing the girl, according to the complaint, which said the girl suffered from the alleged abuse and cover-up.

“Plaintiff,” the lawsuit reads, “developed many of the hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms of child sexual abuse. … As an outlet for the intolerable and constant sense of shame, she began to beat her arms and legs with a belt, and cut her arms with a sharp belt buckle. Scars from this cutting are still on her arms decades later.”

The complaint added that the girl isolated herself at Park, spending most school hours close to a female librarian. Sex education class, the complaint added, further traumatized her.

It was not until 2018 that the school, under new leadership, acknowledged her abuse and that it had been made aware of her allegations. The school hired a private security and investigations firm to look into her abuse.

T&M Protection Resources’ investigation confirmed that Siemon abused the girl, while finding, “based on additional, similar reports and on a close examination of school records,” that he “had engaged in a general pattern of behavior directed at female Middle School students that included inappropriate physical touching and boundary crossing,” the lawsuit reads.

Siemon is dead, according to the complaint, which charges negligence and seeks more than $75,000 in damages.

In a statement late Thursday, Park spokesman Pete Hilsee said educators at the school take their duty seriously “to ensure every student knows they are safe and secure in our care.”

“In the 2018-19 school year, Park School publicly disclosed, investigated and reconciled with heartbreaking allegations about its past, including those expressed in the complaint filed today — specifically the actions of Alfred H. Siemon, who taught at the school from the late 1960s into the 1980s,” Hilsee said. “We have taken extensive measures to investigate this matter fully, to address past shortcomings, and to continue our work to ensure a safe school environment for every member of our community.”

That investigation also criticized Sharpless and another school administrator for failing “to take sufficient action.”

In 2019, Paradis and Park School Board President Betsy Berner outlined the findings of the investigation in an email to the school community, which Jane Doe’s lawyer, Robert J. “Robbie” Leonard, shared with The Sun. The email said there were instances of sexual misconduct by two other former employees, while offering the school leaders’ “sincere apology to any individual who has been affected by the misconduct of a Park employee.”

“All students and employees are entitled to a safe, supportive learning and working environment. Park School maintains a Harassment and Abuse Policy that we regularly review, refine, and communicate,” Paradis and Berner wrote. “Our faculty participates in scheduled training and education on the topics of harassment, misconduct, and mandatory reporting.”

The school also set aside money to pay for counseling for victims of sexual abuse, according to an undated letter also shared by Leonard, who ran unsuccessfully for Baltimore County state’s attorneyin 2022.

“The Child Victims Act passed into law in 2023 allows the survivors to seek more meaningful recovery for the decades of trauma they have experienced,” Leonard said in a statement. “Today’s Complaint is the first real step in accountability.”