What to Know
- Video posted to social media last year showed several students viciously attacking Adriana Olivia Kuch as she was walking with her boyfriend in a school hallway; four people in the video were suspended
- The victim, 14-year-old Adriana Kuch, took her own life at her Bayville, New Jersey, home two days later, family and investigators say; they say Central Regional High School handled the situation poorly
- The school district says it followed policy in not filing a police report over the attack, instead taking the girl to the nurse; her father has said that's not good enough and is demanding justice
The family of a 14-year-old girl who died by suicide last year after video of other students viciously attacking her in a high school hallway was posted to social media is filing a civil lawsuit alleging school administrators knew a "culture of violence" existed at Central Regional High School and failed to protect the teenager from its clutches.
Adriana Kuch, of Bayville, was a freshman at the Berkeley Township high school when her family members found her dead by suicide on Feb. 3, 2023. Two days earlier, she had been set upon in the hallway by a group of girls who kicked her, punched her and hit her in the face with a water bottle. Kuch blacked out. They recorded it -- and posted it online.
Kuch's father, Michael Kuch, believes bullying drove his daughter to take her own life and previously eviscerated the school for not calling the police after the attack. The school said it did call the police, in line with district policy, but that it doesn't always pursue charges. Michael Kuch says taking his injured daughter to the school nurse was insufficient.
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In the aftermath of Kuch's death, videos surfaced of other bullying incidents at Central Regional High School.
A video from 2022 showed a girl, with her arm in a sling because of a shoulder injury during a wrestling match, getting attacked. That student's mother said she had to send her daughter to an out-of-district school after her attackers were suspended for 10 days.
In another attack from the same year, the victim again had to be transferred out afterward. The lawyer for that family has said video of the incident immediately went up on social media with the intent to harass and intimidate.
News
Michael Kuch's lawsuit, which names the Central Board of Education, school superintendent, school principal, an anti-bullying specialist and other school officials as defendants, alleges administrators were not only aware of harassment, intimidation and bullying -- and the video recordings and social media posts on the attacks -- they failed to address threats posed by students in compliance with the New Jersey Anti-Bullying Statute. They also allegedly failed to investigate the threats in a timely and appropriate manner, the complaint says, and to shield Kuch from the abuse.
Those failures and oversights, Michael Kuch claims, led to his daughter's public humiliation and ultimate suicide. The lawsuit was filed Monday in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Ocean County.
"Adriana was the light of our lives, and one year after her horrific and needless death, we are still waiting for justice,” Michael Kuch said in a statement, in part. "It’s clear this school has a serious bullying problem that none of the school administrators care to admit or address."
The Ocean County prosecutor's office previously charged three of the four girls with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and the fourth girl with aggravated assault. They are all being prosecuted as juveniles. The status of those cases wasn't immediately clear Monday.
The attack video
News 4 has obtained that footage (below). WARNING: Note that some viewers may find its contents disturbing.
The footage itself lasts less than a minute. It shows Kuch walking down the hallway with her boyfriend as the kids recording the moment approach them going in the opposite direction. Suddenly, there's a quick movement from someone near the phone-holder and pink liquid sprays out of a cup, all over Kuch. She is then set upon by at least two people, the video shows, slammed into school lockers and surrounded by what is now a trio of attackers.
She crumples on the floor. The three classmates, backpacks swinging, fall over themselves a bit near the lockers, almost stepping on Kuch as she crawls around on the floor, trying to collect herself. Then they start shoving her, dragging her almost along the ground on her knees, raking her against the red school lockers, the white soles of her shoes the only part of her visible underneath her attackers at various points. Then one girl grabs her by the hair.
The violent attack continues for another few seconds before two adults run into the video frame and pull the attackers off Kuch. She is seen writhing on the ground, her hands holding either side of her head as a man stands over her. He then helps the bruised and bloodied girl up. The footage wraps.
The superintendent's office didn't immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment Monday. The Central Regional School District declined to comment, saying in a statement they had not yet been served a copy of the complaint.
"Further, Further, since this would be a matter involving litigation, the Board will be limited in what it can comment on publicly," the district's statement read.
The district superintendent resigned in February 2023 after commenting on Kuch's home life and mental health. That official had also publicly said school officials didn't pursue criminal charges against the students because they didn't want the girls to face a potential "double whammy" in discipline from the school and law enforcement, the suit says.
The civil lawsuit filed Monday also accuses the former superintendent of defamation and violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act in the days following Kuch's death.
"Michael Kuch and his family have experienced so much heartache and tragedy already, and the gross negligence of school officials – followed by the superintendent’s cruel, insensitive, and defamatory remarks – only compound their pain," Kuch family counsel William Krais, of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, said in a statement. "It is the defendants’ job to provide a safe and secure environment for the students at Central Regional High School. They catastrophically failed Adriana, leading to the emotional distress, humiliation, and embarrassment that ultimately caused her to take her own life. It’s high time the school and those involved are held accountable for their actions."
The civil lawsuit alleges negligence against all the defendants. Additionally, against the board and former superintendent, it alleges invasion of privacy, defamation, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It seeks unspecified punitive damages.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
