GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A former Benton Harbor High School student says the school district protected a star quarterback – who led the Tigers to their first-ever playoff win – after he sexually assaulted her in a school bathroom and shared cell-phone video of the incident with classmates, according to a federal lawsuit.The assault happened weeks after the 2015 football season ended. At the time, the victim, who has autism, was a 15-year-old freshman cheerleader.

After the assault, the girl says she was subjected to sex-based taunts, teasing, name-calling and had to face her attacker daily in classrooms and hallways.

The victim, identified by a pseudonym, Jane Doe, filed a Title IX lawsuit in U.S District Court against the school district, Superintendent Shelly Walker, former Principal Rodger Tripplett and Title IX coordinator Patricia Robinson.

The school district superintendent, as well as others named in the lawsuit, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

It is one of at least four such student vs. school district cases that recently have been filed in federal court for the Western District of Michigan, including one that resulted in a $600,000 settlement. Title IX is a federal policy designed to protect students from gender-based discrimination in educational activities.

The Benton Harbor lawsuit alleges the girl suffered sexual harassment and a hostile school environment after she filed a complaint.

Timothy Bell Jr., now 18, is serving one year in the Berrien County Jail, to be followed by five years on probation, for the crime against the student. He pleaded guilty June 27, 2016 to assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, records show.

He was quarterback during Benton Harbor’s magical 2015 season.

Former Western Michigan University head coach Elliott Uzelac – who has coached both college and pros – came out of retirement and led Benton Harbor to its first winning season in 25 years and its first playoff victory before falling to eventual state champions, the Zeeland West Dux.

Benton Harbor finished 6-5 that year.

The team was featured by ESPN, Sports Illustrated and ABC News. Good Morning America presented a $10,000 scholarship to the school in the coach’s name and provided an all-expenses paid trip for the 40 players to Walt Disney World in Orlando.

Without Bell, the team continued its winning ways, going 10-1 in 2016, losing only to Hudsonville Unity Christian 35-34 in overtime in the district finals. Uzelac was named Detroit Lions/Farm Bureau Instance of Michigan’s high school Coach of the Year.

Uzelac declined to comment for this story.

The assault happened on Dec. 28, 2015, during a Christmas break basketball tournament at Benton Harbor High School.

Bell, described in the lawsuit as a “prominent athlete,” was a junior, just days shy of 17 at the time.

Because he was a minor at the time of the offense, federal court rules require that he be identified only by his initials, “TB.”

Details in the lawsuit, including the time and location of the assault, Bell’s conviction and age, are consistent with criminal court records, state Department of Corrections records, state sex offender records and media accounts of the case.

At the tournament, while other teams played, Bell “lured” the victim to a boys’ bathroom, the lawsuit said.

There, he “violently and forcibly sexually assaulted Jane Doe … while making a video of it on his cellular telephone while the sexual assault was taking place in Benton Harbor’s second-floor boys’ bathroom,” Kalamazoo attorney Marlo Bruch said in the lawsuit.

On Jan. 7, 2016, the girl’s mother learned about a video from the girl’s father and then, a teacher. The father had heard about the video from a school security officer.

The mother was not aware of its content. That night, Bell’s mother “began to relentlessly Facebook and text (the girl’s) mother in an effort to not have her file charges against her son,” Bruch wrote.

When school resumed after the holiday break, teacher Keisha McKee told the victim’s mother about the video. She said the girl’s best friend brought her to see the teacher, according to the lawsuit.

Bell was showing the sexual assault video to other students, the suit said.

The victim’s parents went to school that day. The mother dropped off her daughter’s cheerleading uniform. She said a coach who served as an athletic department assistant was aware of the video.

That coach, Kenisha Nichols, did not notify district officials, the lawsuit said.

The mother then filed a report with the Benton Harbor Police Department.

Police began investigating the same day. By mid-January, a detective contacted the defendants, including Tripplett, along with Nichols, and Bell’s friends and teammates who had seen the video, the lawsuit said.

A detective tried to get Bell’s cell phone but his family would not provide it, the lawsuit alleges. The detective told the victim’s mother he had been to the school and Bell’s home on several occasions.

The victim “began to suffer a great deal of ridicule, teasing, taunting her and violent outbursts from the other athletes,” including a male athlete who wanted to fight her, the lawsuit said.

In March, an unnamed student called her “‘b—-es and lying whores’ in front of the entire band class and the band teacher. One of the athletes said to Plaintiff, ‘You know you wanted it. Don’t ruin his life. You are so wrong,'” the lawsuit said.

The school district didn’t address that incident or others, the suit alleges.

The victim once loved going to school but became terrified, the lawsuit said. Being autistic, “she strives off structure.”

In the months after the Benton Harbor attack, the girl underwent counseling and was hospitalized after a suicide threat. She was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She lost peripheral vision and suffered severe headaches, according to the lawsuit.

Tripplett, then the principal, called the girl’s mother on March 12. He said Bell had admitted to the sexual assault. The principal and parent also discussed the teasing and bullying, according to court documents.

Bell was suspended from school on March 18.

The victim’s mother met with Tripplett three days later. He denied having prior knowledge of the incident but said his staff knew, the lawsuit said. The mother said she provided information about harassment from other students, but the school took no action and it continued.

The lawsuit said the school did not talk to the victim until several months after police began their investigation.

The family found out April 7 that Bell’s school suspension had been lifted. His athletic suspension was lifted a week later.

Bell played baseball, basketball and football for the school.

The school district “conducted virtually no or very little investigation” into the assault or bullying, the lawsuit said.

The mother and daughter were interviewed by school officials and their attorneys in late March or early April. The superintendent told them the district would get to the bottom of the problem, but the victim and her mother heard nothing back, the lawsuit said.

On April 28, the mother pulled her daughter out of school because of harassment, the lawsuit said. She claims her multiple complaints to school officials were ignored.

The mother owns her own business and had to take a lot of time off to be with her daughter. She feared the girl would commit suicide if left alone.

The mother had just bought a home in the district, but felt forced to move. She is paying that mortgage and rent at a new apartment. She has used all of her savings and had to apply for state assistance. She can’t afford counseling for her daughter, the lawsuit says.

“This was not just a school incident, it was a community incident because of the popularity of (Bell). He was an all-around athlete. He played and excelled in all sports,” Bruch wrote.

“The school and its Title IX coordinator (have) tried to cover up the unlawful activity they were engaged in to protect themselves and not Jane Doe.”

Bell was sentenced in August to one year in jail, followed by five years on probation. He will be on the state’s sex-offender registry for life.