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Suit Filed Against Carmel Schools for Failure to Protect Student from Coach
John Goelz, a former swim coach at Carmel High School, pleaded guilty last year to sexually exploiting a, then, 17-year-old student athlete and to possessing child pornography. The 31-year-old is now serving a sentence of more than 16 years in federal prison.
The victim, now 18, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. Southern District Court in Indianapolis accusing Carmel Clay Schools and the district’s high school swim coach, Chris Plumb, of allowing her sexual exploitation to continue despite warnings that Goelz was having inappropriate relationships with female swimmers.
The lawsuit alleges that the district and Plumb failed to protect her from Goelz, who “savagely and repeatedly raped and sodomized” her.
The woman’s lawsuit also names Red Roof Inn as a defendant, arguing that the company didn’t properly train its staff to prevent sex crimes on its Anderson, Indiana, property, where Goelz filmed her during sexual activity.
She’s seeking damages due to alleged negligence by Plumb, Carmel Clay Schools and Red Roof Inn as well as damages from Goelz because of battery, according to the lawsuit. She is asking that a jury decide the amount.