A county clerk used her ‘political influence’ to get her son reinstated into his Michigan public school district after he had been expelled for allegedly sexually assaulting another student, a lawsuit claims.
The alleged victim’s mother launched a federal civil rights lawsuit against Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum and her husband Brad Delaney after their son was readmitted to the Mason Public School District last fall.
The lawsuit, reviewed by , accuses Byrum and Delaney, a detective sergeant in county sheriff’s office, of ‘acting under their unique positions of power’ to conspire with the district and school board.
The complaint does not specify how the couple allegedly used their positions to influence officials, but argues the school district acted with ‘indifference’ when it came to the alleged victim and the decision to reinstate the boy.
The alleged assault took place in May 2022 at Mason Middle School, where both students were eighth graders, the suit states. The boy was accused of ‘digital penetration’ against a female student and expelled for his ninth-grade year after a Title IX investigation. A no-contact order was also put in place.
Byrum, a Democrat, is serving her third term as the county clerk and was a state representative before being elected in 2013.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum (pictured) and her husband Brad Delaney used ‘political influence’ to their son reinstated into the Mason Public School District after the boy had been expelled for allegedly sexually assaulting another student, a lawsuit claims
The Title IX investigation determined that Byrum and Delaney’s son violated the school district’s policy prohibiting sexual assault when he allegedly put his hand inside a female student’s pants during class, the complaint states.
The boy allegedly ignored her attempts to push him away and only stopped touching her when class concluded. The suit claims he tried to assault her again a few days later in another class.
Other classmates interviewed as part of the allegation corroborated parts of the girl’s allegations, according to the complaint.
Mason police investigated the incident in May 2022, but ‘never spoke’ to the boy, who was not charged. The alleged victim obtained a personal protection order against him that summer.
The Title IX investigation recommended that the boy be expelled and he was banned from the district for the 2022-23 academic year.
But the lawsuit alleges that the two youths have now been ‘placed back in the exact same public school district’ after the boy’s parents successfully rallied district officials.
The girl has repeatedly complained about seeing her alleged attacker in the hallways, at lunch and during extracurricular activities, according to the suit – which names the district, Mason High School Principal Lance Delbridge, Assistant Principal Nicholas Toodzio, Byrum and Delaney as defendants.
Her family claimed she has suffered ‘significant distress’ in wake of his reinstatement with has negatively impacted her grades and harmed her educational opportunities.
‘It’s very traumatic and something that could live with her forever,’ Brandon Wolfe, who represents the alleged victim’s family, wrote in the lawsuit. ‘We want justice.’
He added that, for the victim, ‘every day is a constant reminder of being sexually assaulted’ and of the ‘mental anguish from that embarrassment.’
He further went on to argue that the ‘consistent contact’ between the girl and her alleged attacker the personal protection order, which was reinstated as recently as January 24 this year.
Michigan Department of Education policy states that students who have been expelled for any reason can petition a school board for reinstatement after 150 days.
Boards that allow students to be reinstated cam add conditions to the reinstatement. According to the lawsuit, in the case of Byrum and Delaney’s son, a no-contact order was put in place between the boy and his accuser.
Wolfe, speaking to the Lansing State Journal last week, claims that his clients were not aware that the reinstatement process was underway until after the board made its decision.
Michigan law does not require the girl to have been informed of the boy’s reinstatement.
has approached Byrum, Delaney, Delbridge, Toodzio and Wolfe for comment.