Triton School Corporation sued over alleged failure to report teacher’s inappropriate relationship with student
BOURBON, Ind. -- A former Triton School Corporation teacher who pleaded guilty to felony child seduction is now facing a civil lawsuit, along with the school district and his former wife. The amended complaint, filed in St. Joseph County Superior Court, alleges Triton School Corporation administrators and Amanda Fox, the ex-wife of teacher Zachary Whittaker, had reason to suspect an inappropriate relationship between Whittaker and a student in fall 2022. The lawsuit alleges Whittaker sexually abused the student between 2022 and 2023 at both school grounds and his home that he shared with Fox. Fox allegedly knew of these actions happening at the time and failed to report them, which she was required to do as an administrator in another school district. According to the complaint, Whittaker asked the student to watch the couple’s dog at their house for a week during summer 2022, and during that time, the student and Whittaker allegedly shared numbers and began communicating via text at that time. The complaint shares that rumors about the teacher and student circulated during fall 2022, and both teachers and the athletic director raised concerns to the administration, and Principal Nate McKeand began an internal investigation. He then told the victim to not walk past Whittaker’s classroom, and she was also removed from his class, but no actions were given to Whittaker. This lawsuit claims Triton knew of suspected abuse during the 2022-2023 school year and did not report the actions to law enforcement or the Indiana Department of Child Services during the 2022-2023 school year. Triton reported the alleged abuse in July 2024. Frank Julian, the owner of Sweeney Julian Trial Attorneys, commented on the complaint. “There are separate systems of justice, and you can be charged with a criminal case, but also have responsibility on the civil side,” Julian said. “If we find out that there were teachers and staff members who knew or suspected that this was happening, and didn’t do anything about it, that’s disturbing to me.” ABC57 News reached out to the victim’s lawyers, and they declined to comment at this time.