Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has announced that both Walter Jones and Marvin Hall have been criminally charged for their actions and are prohibited from volunteering or working with the district. Hall resigned from his position at SPS in August 2022, as stated by the district.
A spokesperson for SPS emphasized, “The district takes these incidents very seriously and has fully cooperated with law enforcement. SPS remains committed to enhancing its preventative training and strengthening its procedures to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
SPS will contribute $500,000 towards a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit filed in July 2024, with the remainder covered by the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool.
The lawsuit claims that SPS failed to implement necessary measures to protect a student when she was just 13 years old. It alleges a lack of reporting on the sexual abuse and notes “extreme and outrageous conduct” that enabled the abuse and discrimination against the victim, who has a disability.
Attorney Paul Sewell of PWRFL represented the student, highlighting that a former volunteer weightlifting coach and assistant coach for the Garfield girls’ basketball team groomed and sexually abused her from 2013 until after 2017.
Walter Jones, the weightlifting coach, is accused of repeatedly raping the student, including in the school’s weight room. His volunteer status began in 2013, despite being on the district’s “Do Not Re-Hire” list due to prior misconduct, according to the law firm.
The lawsuit also alleges that Jones threatened to kill the student if she reported the abuse. Meanwhile, assistant coach Marvin Hall is said to have maintained an abusive relationship with the victim that extended into her adult years, which began shortly after he was hired in 2017 while he was still married with children.
