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Seminole school district settles after ‘Code Red’ locker room sex attack

Lawsuit claims former student was sexually assaulted by football player

Oviedo High School (Copyright 2022 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Seminole County Public Schools settled in court after a lawsuit was filed in 2022 over claims of a sexual assault at Oviedo High School, according to court documents released earlier this month.

The lawsuit was brought forth by Dominic Ricigliano, a former student and football player at the high school.

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According to the lawsuit, “older and stronger students preyed upon the younger students” while Ricigliano was a student there, and they would administer so-called “Code Reds,” which included sexual assault.

As an example, the lawsuit points to an alleged incident in 2017 where a football player molested another player.

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In August 2019, Ricigliano claimed to be a victim of one of these “Code Red” incidents — a situation where he was sexually assaulted after being held down by several other students, the lawsuit states.

“The administrators and football coaches were responsible for ensuring the football players’ instruction and supervision...” the lawsuit reads. “Had a coach been present in the locker room, no ‘Code Red’ would have occurred, and (Ricigliano) would not have been sexually assaulted.”

In the following months, the high school “parted ways” with the school’s head coach, Matt Dixon. A report from that year details that Dixon had violated several policies, including not providing adequate supervision in the locker room.

Ricigliano’s lawsuit says that “student disciplinary action occurred” after his sexual assault, though the “Code Red” incidents had reportedly spread beyond just the football team.

Additionally, the lawsuit accuses the school of having knowledge about other “Code Red” incidents on campus.

“Defendant had engaged in a practice of failing to address, and actively concealing from the public, specific instances of violence and sexual violence committed by its football players,” the lawsuit reads.

Due to the incident, Ricigliano began avoiding school out of “fear of encountering his assaulter and other harassing football players on campus,” and he began to “spiral down” as a result, the lawsuit reads.

In July 2020, then-15-year-old Ricigliano was reported missing, and a Morgan & Morgan spokesperson said that he had suffered an injury at the high school in 2019. Oviedo police later announced that he had been found safely.

Photo of Dominic Ricigliano, 15, provided by Oviedo police during his disappearance in 2020 (Courtesy of Morgan & Morgan)

No information was provided about whether that injury was related to the sex attack.

Due to the incident, the lawsuit accused the school district of negligence, Title IX violations, and violating the Florida Civil Rights Act.

However, court filings on Jan. 16 show that Ricigliano and the school district had settled out of court, though no information was provided on what that settlement entailed.

News 6 has reached out to SCPS and the Oviedo High School for comment and is awaiting response.

The full complaint has been attached to this story and can be read in the media viewer below.


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