A San Marcos family has filed a federal lawsuit against the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District (SMCISD), accusing the district of turning a blind eye to sexual assault and hazing inside its high-school baseball program — and then retaliating against the victim’s brother after the family demanded accountability.
The 29-page complaint, filed September 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (Austin Division), outlines a disturbing sequence of events that attorneys describe as “a miscarriage of justice” inside one of Central Texas’s largest public-school systems.
A Family’s Allegations
According to the filing, freshman J.D.R. Rowley joined the San Marcos High School baseball team in fall 2023. Within weeks, his parents noticed he had grown withdrawn and depressed — a sharp change from the upbeat student who once looked forward to competing in his first season.
By October 2023, that change had a reason: the lawsuit alleges J.D.R. was sexually assaulted by an upper-class teammate as part of a hazing ritual in the team’s locker room.
“He was held down while another student placed his genitals on J.D.R.’s face and in his mouth,” the complaint states.
Two other freshmen were reportedly subjected to similar assaults, according to the filing. Coaches, it alleges, were in violation of district policy requiring adult supervision in locker rooms — but “never disciplined a single upperclassman.”
The student’s mother reportedly warned coaches in mid-October 2023 that something was seriously wrong, pointing to her son’s behavior. Baseball head coach Webb and others promised to “look into it.” Within days, the assault occurred.
A School’s Silence
The family says no disciplinary action was ever taken against the assailants, despite clear awareness among coaches. In November 2023, the complaint recounts, all baseball players were gathered for a talk about staying out of unsupervised locker rooms — a sign, the parents say, that coaches knew what had happened yet chose not to confront it publicly.
Months later, a second humiliation followed. In April 2024, another student allegedly recorded J.D.R. in a bathroom stall and posted the video online. That student faced temporary removal, but the earlier assault was still ignored.
It wasn’t until September 2024 — nearly a year after the assault — that J.D.R. told his parents and school administrators what had happened. He also filed a police report in early October 2024.
The district launched what it called an “internal investigation” on October 8, 2024. Less than a month later, on November 2, it concluded the report was “not substantiated.” The family appealed through multiple grievance levels, but the district upheld its decision each time, denying that a sexual assault occurred.
The Brother’s Punishment
While J.D.R.’s case was quietly closed, his older brother J.M.R. Rowley — a senior, straight-A student and National Honor Society member — became, in the family’s words, “a scapegoat.”
In September 2024, J.M.R. admitted to “towel-whipping” another athlete in the cross-country locker room — a prank he and others described as routine locker-room horseplay. The student he struck declined to file charges. Initially, the district labeled the act “hazing” and suspended him for three days.
But after J.D.R. questioned the double standard — noting his sexual assault went unpunished while his brother faced maximum suspension — the family says the district retaliated. Administrators raised J.M.R.’s offense from “hazing” to “assault” and reassigned him to an alternative campus for 45 days .
“The student that had sexually assaulted J.D.R. Rowley was permitted to remain on campus with no consequences,” the complaint reads, “but J.M.R. Rowley was essentially banned from campus for 45 days due to a single towel-whipping incident.”
That disciplinary mark — labeled “assault” — now sits permanently in J.M.R.’s academic record, derailing his EMT certification program and his plans to use it to pay for college.
Family Says Police Inquiry Stalled, DA’s Office Declined to Act
After the alleged assault surfaced last year, Rachael Willson Rowley, the mother of the two students, says she and her husband filed a police report with the San Marcos Police Department in October 2024.
In messages shared with The Hawk’s Eye, Rowley said the family repeatedly requested copies of the report but “were ignored repeatedly.”
She recalled that the initial investigator told them the case would be forwarded to the district attorney’s office. But when they later met with him, she said the conversation “took a turn,” with the investigator asking unrelated personal questions about whether the boys “had food in the refrigerator” or “a bed to sleep in at night,” before warning the family not to discuss what he’d shared about his own time at San Marcos High School.
“He told our family not to say anything about the stories he shared,” Rowley said in her messages.
Rowley said a family friend in law enforcement encouraged them to take their concerns directly to the Hays County District Attorney’s Office. There, she said, a junior prosecutor told them the case would be handled and described “problems within the police department,” including mishandled evidence.
But according to Rowley, after weeks of no updates, the family returned and met a higher-level assistant DA who dismissed the case outright.
“He said, ‘I was bullied too. It happens. We’re going to do nothing. Good luck,’” she wrote.
Rowley identified the district attorney at the time as Kelly Higgins, who took office in 2023. She said the experience left her family feeling “stonewalled by both the police and the DA’s office.”
Larger Questions About Oversight
The family’s account raises questions about how law enforcement agencies handled an alleged on-campus sexual assault that could fall within the statute of limitations for felony charges.
As of this week, The Hawk’s Eye has not confirmed whether the San Marcos Police Department or the Hays County District Attorney’s Office reopened the case or reviewed the school district’s internal findings.
District Policies at Issue
The Rowleys’ lawsuit claims SMCISD violated its own student handbook and Title IX policies, which promise fair and equitable treatment in disciplinary and sexual-misconduct investigations.
Among the alleged violations:
- Failure to investigate sexual-assault complaints “promptly and equitably.”
- Failure to notify parents of all charges before raising the offense level.
- Bias and gender stereotyping — assuming male victims are less credible.
- Retaliation for reporting sex-based harassment.
Attorneys argue the district’s conduct meets the federal definition of “deliberate indifference” under Title IX — a legal threshold reached when school officials know about sexual harassment and respond in a way that is clearly unreasonable in light of known circumstances.
The Legal Fight
The family is represented by Nesenoff & Miltenberg LLP of New York, a firm nationally known for campus Title IX litigation, alongside Hossley Embry LLP of Tyler, Texas.
Their suit accuses the district of:
- Title IX discrimination — deliberate indifference to sexual harassment and retaliation against complainants;
- Breach of contract — violating the student handbook and disciplinary procedures; and
- Violation of due process through arbitrary sanctions and failure to follow policy.
The plaintiffs seek monetary damages, attorney’s fees, and court-ordered reforms to SMCISD’s Title IX procedures. Both students are requesting a jury trial.
District Response
As of press time, San Marcos CISD has not filed a public response to the federal complaint. The district typically declines comment on pending litigation involving minors.
Court records list the case as J.D.R. and J.M.R. Rowley, by and through their parents David and Rachael Rowley v. San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District, Case No. 1:25-cv-01545-RP, filed in the Western District of Texas, Austin Division.
Broader Context
Title IX requires schools receiving federal funds to take “immediate and effective action” to stop, investigate, and remedy sexual harassment.
While the federal rules were rewritten in 2020 to strengthen due-process rights for both sides, the complaint contends SMCISD continued using outdated procedures shaped by Obama-era guidance that lacked fairness for accused and accuser alike.
If proven, the case could join a growing list of Texas districts facing scrutiny over locker-room hazing and administrative indifference. The complaint describes what the family calls “a culture of silence and favoritism” — one that allowed a sexual assault to be buried while the victim’s brother was punished for speaking out.
What’s Next
The federal court in Austin will set initial hearings in late 2025.
For now, the Rowley family says they want more than damages — they want acknowledgment that male victims deserve to be heard and that hazing disguised as “team bonding” should never be tolerated.
Disclaimer
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