A Holmes High School student sexually abused by her sophomore-year social studies teacher is suing the school district, alleging that officials failed to investigate or act on signs of inappropriate behavior.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Covington in September, names former teacher Mason Goins, the Covington Independent School District board of education and unidentified school officials. It comes after Goins pleaded guilty to sex crimes charges and was sentenced in July to a seven-year prison term.
The student, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, was 17 years old at the time of the abuse. She is seeking damages for pain and suffering resulting from sexual misconduct at the hands of her teacher, and for expenses related to medical
care and counseling.
A Covington Independent Schools spokeswoman and the district’s attorneys did not respond to an email from The Enquirer. The school district has denied the allegations in court.
In a handwritten letter to the court, Goins, 25, asked for a court-appointed representative to defend his interests in the litigation. He did not address the allegations.
Goins and the student were in a “sexually abusive relationship" starting in at least July 2024 and lasting until he was confronted about inappropriate messages roughly eight months later, court filings and state educator disciplinary records show.
Ex-teacher sexually abused student in classroom, records state
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services received a report of suspected abuse on March 12, 2025.
During a forensic interview at the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center, the student said she was in a relationship with Goins and frequently skipped class to spend time alone in the teacher’s classroom, where they would engage in sexual acts.
Court filings state they spent extended time alone together before school, after school, during lunch periods and during other class times.
Goins taught the student the previous academic year, according to disciplinary records, and there was no legitimate academic reason for the girl's visits.
Covington police obtained Goins' cellphone and found Snapchat conversations between the pair, as well as nude pictures and sexually explicit videos of the student. Authorities said that Goins had been communicating with the girl on Snapchat for several months. He asked her to send the compromising photos.
The student’s friends showed a principal some of her online conversations with Goins, including messages where they “professed love,” according to a complaint filed with the Kentucky Department of Education. It's unclear when exactly the principal was informed.
The messages also showed the girl asking when she could skip class to visit Goins. He responded, “second period.”
Goins resigned in a one-sentence letter dated the same day state officials were alerted to the abuse.
Lawsuit: student endured ‘ongoing sexual abuse,’ district didn’t step in
The district and its staff knew, or should have known, about the ongoing abuse happening on school property, the lawsuit states, alleging that the student was permitted to spend time alone with Goins without appropriate supervision.
The lawsuit alleges that school officials knew of information, complaints or observations that raised red flags about the abuse, but didn’t intervene.
Because of the district’s alleged failure to restrict Goins’ access to the student, or report suspected abuse to authorities, she was “subjected to ongoing sexual abuse by Defendant Mason Goins over an extended period of time,” the lawsuit states.
Goins’ personnel file, obtained by The Enquirer through a Kentucky open records request, does not contain any grievances or disciplinary actions during his tenure at Holmes High School, despite the lawsuit's allegations that warning signs existed.
In a court filing, the school district denied allegations that it failed to inquire into or report Goins' interactions with the student. It also denied that school officials knew about warning signs of abuse.
The civil case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge David Bunning. No hearing had been set as of the publication of this report.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Student sues Covington school district over abuse by former teacher
