The Boise School District’s former attorney tried to cover up sexual abuse complaints against district staff, obstructing Boise police investigations, an attorney argued in a September federal court filing.

The filing is the latest development in a 3-year-old case centered on Fairmont Junior High School. The school’s former principal, Christopher Ryan, was charged on three separate occasions of failing to investigate allegations of abuse. The third and most recent criminal case was dismissed nearly a year ago, the Idaho Statesman reported at the time.

A federal lawsuit, dating back to 2023, also accuses Ryan and the district of failing to prevent sexual abuse in school. The civil case was brought by two parents who say their daughter was sexually abused while attending Fairmont.

In a Sept. 15 filing, attorneys for the parents sought to add another defendant, Daniel Skinner, the district’s former general counsel. This came after attorneys deposed three Boise police officers — Tim Brady, Terry Weir and Jordan Gustin — who said Skinner had tried to block sexual abuse investigations.

“Weir performed a review of instances where the Boise Police Department found the school district to be uncooperative or obstructive in investigations of potential sexual abuse of school district students,” according to the filing, signed by Portia Rauer, an attorney for the parents.

Officers said Skinner would investigate complaints internally, instead of making mandatory reports to police and the Department of Health and Welfare. Brady testified that Skinner would often “’just flat out’ refuse” to identify victims or alleged perpetrators, Rauer said.

“The new evidence exposes the conscious disregard and deliberate indifference the school district has against those who have been sexually abuse (sic) or could be sexually abused by school district employees,” Rauer wrote.

In an email Monday, spokesman Dan Hollar said the Boise district takes issue with Weir’s claims.

“We are aware of what Boise police officer Weir represented in his deposition and we have provided the correct information on what actually occurred to the district’s attorneys for use in the ongoing lawsuit,” Hollar said.

Hollar declined further comment, since the lawsuit is still active.

The timing of the depositions and Rauer’s Sept. 15 filing are critical. Both come after an Aug. 1 deadline for amending the case.

Rauer argues that the “new and explosive” depositions warrant changes to the case, and adding Skinner as a defendant.

The Boise district’s attorney disagreed.

Skinner was no “unknown quantity” to the parents, and one parent began seeking a deposition of Skinner in July 2024, Anne Magnelli wrote in an Oct. 6 filing. Adding another defendant, and a new attorney to represent him, would further delay an already protracted case.

“The litigation has been ongoing since 2023,” Magnelli wrote. “Ryan and the district are entitled to a sooner resolution of the pending litigation against them.”

Magnelli is a partner with Anderson, Julian & Hull, a Boise firm that is prominent in education law. Skinner, who left the Boise district on Oct. 2, now works as a “non-equity partner” in the firm.