CHARLOTTE — A former Charlotte-Mecklenburg teacher who was convicted and sentenced for sexually abusing his students is now facing a new lawsuit.
Michael Tye Jr. was sent to prison in 2009 for sexual exploitation of two male students. He was released in 2013 and is now a registered sex offender.
Now, one of his former students is coming forward again. That student testified against his former teacher in 2009 when he was 16 years old. He’s 29 now and has filed a civil lawsuit against Michael Tye and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Charlotte attorney Don Higley said his client filed the lawsuit under the Safe Child Act against both CMS and his former abuser and teacher.
“Suffice it to say that when someone is abused as a child, it causes them innumerable problems,” Higley told Channel 9.
The Safe Child Act was designed so child abuse victims could sue their abusers and groups who could be seen as negligent -- even after the statute of limitations has expired.
“We feel that the school enabled this opportunity, so we are seeking to hold them accountable,” Higley said.
Around 2008, Higley said his client was a student at Independence High School. Tye was his teacher and swim coach. Higley said it was during that time that Tye groomed his client and eventually began sexually abusing him at swim practices, meets, and even in class.
His client and another young male student told authorities about the abuse, and in 2009, Tye pleaded guilty to the charges and served four years in prison. The state revoked his teaching license and he’s a registered sex offender.
But Higley said that’s not enough. In the lawsuit filed in December, Higley wrote that while Tye’s abuse has caused his client “mental, physical, and emotional injuries,” CMS’ negligence has done the same. He claims CMS “had actual knowledge of the abusive and exploitative sexual conduct” and that the district failed to do the following:
- failed to perform a proper background check on Tye before hiring him as a teacher
- failed to properly supervise him
- failed to intervene when they knew or should have known of the inappropriate relationships between Tye and young male students
“We obviously feel like they had an opportunity and that they should have prevented it or we would not have filed this lawsuit,” Higley said.
He said his client is seeking damages from both Tye and CMS.
Channel 9 reached out to the school district for a response to the lawsuit but it has yet to respond. CMS did say Tye was hired in 1994 and the district “separated” from him in April 2009 right after his conviction.
School officials said he served as a psychology teacher and a teacher for exceptional children.
The North Carolina General Assembly passed the Safe Child Act unanimously but was deemed unconstitutional by a three-judge panel in December. The Attorney General told Channel 9 he has already appealed the decision and that it won’t have any effect on this case and others like it right now. He said the appeal will likely go up to the state supreme court.
(WATCH: CMPD identifies ‘Myers Park Rapist’ accused of preying on young girls in 1990s)
©2022 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
