FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) — A Florence mom filed a lawsuit Monday claiming administrators at one Lauderdale County high school were negligent when they allowed a Kentucky man to check out her daughter without her consent.

According to court documents obtained by News 19, the mother of a teen at Central High School has filed a lawsuit against:

• Central High School Principal Duana Keener
• Central High School Assistant Principal Greta Erwin
• Central High School Secretary Elizabeth Shelton
• Six unnamed parties involved in “receiving, processing/facilitating the check-out” of the teenager into the custody of Justin Stephens.

The lawsuit also names Justin Stephens, who was arrested in October 2024 and is facing a rape charge, as a defendant. It says that Stephens traveled to Central High School around 9 a.m., called the front office claiming to be the teenager’s father and said he needed to check her out of school on September 18, 2024.

Court records state that the school’s security cameras caught the teen girl leaving school and entering a black Dodge truck. Documents state Stephens took the girl to an abandoned residence in Florence where “she was raped and sodomized.”

Security footage from the school shows her returning to school around 2 p.m. that same day.

In the lawsuit, the mother claims that Stephens committed assault and battery on her daughter, intentionally inflicting emotional distress/outrage and invading her privacy.

She claims the school administrators are guilty of negligence because they failed to follow the written rules provided by the school regarding the check-in and check-out policies, as well as failing to verify the identity of Stephens before releasing the teen into his custody.

In the lawsuit, the victim’s mother states that “written rules of CHS require all check-ins and check-outs to be processed in person through the main office and the person checking the student out must present in-person to the main office and provide photo identification.”

It also says that check-ins and check-outs are “not allowed until the check-out has been verified by the parent/guardian of the student and that the person checking the student out must present a note with the parent/guardian’s signature and phone number.”

The lawsuit states that these rules are in place to limit and prevent harm to students, which can happen when school officials “act beyond their authority and/or fail to follow the written protocols” of the school.

The mother claims that the administration, including Keener, Erwin, Shelton and the six unnamed individuals, were in a position to prevent this incident but failed to do so by not following the check-in and check-out policies.

“As a direct and proximate consequence of the respective tortious conductof Keener, Erwin, Shelton [and the six unnamed individuals, the girl] has been permanently traumatized, lost her innocence and suffered grievous psychological damage, emotional hurt, and injury. [She] has prematurely lost her childhood, been caused anxiety, embarrassment, loss of trust and an alienation of affection and certain relationships.”

Lauderdale County Civil Lawsuit

Also noted in the lawsuit, the vehicle Stephens picked her up in was “distinct and different from the vehicles known to be driven” by the girl’s parents.

The lawsuit also says the administration failed to “properly train, educate and supervise the staff and administration” in how to properly handle check-ins and check-outs as well as failing to oversee, monitor or supervise the staff during the incident.

Finally, the lawsuit claims the administration “created an environment which allowed written rules and protocols regarding check-ins and check-outs to be ignored by staff and administration,” as well as failing to properly monitor security footage to prevent this type of incident from occurring.

The mother of the teen demands a trial by a jury of all the claims listed in the lawsuit against all defendants.