A former water polo player at an elite Los Angeles private school is suing it, alleging that he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by an older player and nothing was done to stop it when he reported the incidents.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Aidan Romain, who was 14 at the time of the alleged incidents at the Harvard-Westlake School, which costs more than $54,000 a year.
Romain, 18, was one of the only Black players on the school’s team. The lawsuit claims that the student who allegedly assaulted him also called him racial slurs, according to the Orange County Register.
According to the lawsuit, Lucca van der Woude, an older player who was reportedly on track to become an Olympic prospect for the American water polo team, digitally penetrated Romain as early as Romain’s first practice with the team.
“Time and time again, on Harvard-Westlake’s campus – in its pool and elsewhere – Lucca Van Der Woude approached Plaintiff from behind to ambush and digitally penetrate him,” Attorney Daniel Watkins wrote in the complaint.
The attorney then accused the school of doing “nothing” after the assaults were reported.
“Plaintiff reported this abuse to Harvard-Westlake immediately after learning that Lucca van Der Woude was assaulting another teammate. But Harvard-Westlake did nothing. It took none of the steps that the school – as a mandated reporter of child abuse – was legally required to take,” he wrote.
Romain claims in the lawsuit that he was called the n-word daily from the time he joined the team through February 2024. In one instance, Romain alleges that van der Woude and another student whipped Romain in the weight room and acted as though they were whipping a slave.
“They taunted him with racial slurs, calling him a [n-word] nearly every day for approximately five months. When Connor Kim and Lucca van Der Woude were questioned by the school, both admitted it,” the complaint says. “Harvard-Westlake still failed to take necessary steps to protect Plaintiff.”
The lawsuit claims the student’s mother met with Harvard-Westlake Coach Jack Grover on at least two occasions to voice her concerns about the team’s allegedly abusive and bigoted behavior.
She reportedly said the coach sent her a text saying that “my eyes are going to be on [her son].”
Harvard-Westlake School president Richard Commons, Grover, and van der Woude are named as defendants in the case.
The school told The Independent that it “unequivocally disputes many” of the claims in the lawsuit.
“Harvard-Westlake will not offer specific comment other than to say that it unequivocally disputes many of the allegations in the lawsuit because they mischaracterize facts and the school’s actions. The school treated reports of inappropriate behavior in its water polo program with urgency and seriousness, promptly initiating an investigation and complying with its mandatory reporting obligations. The school also cooperated completely with law enforcement,” the school said in its statement.
In 2024, van der Woude was arrested on campus on suspicion of sexual assault and was then banned from both the school’s grounds and from playing for the school’s water polo team, according to the Orange County Register.
The complaint accuses the school of covering for van der Woude to protect him from criminal charges.
“As part of its cover-up, the school worked hand-in-hand with Lucca van Der Woude and his family to transfer him to Newport Harbor High School the very next semester with a clean record, as if nothing had ever happened and he had committed no crimes,” the complaint alleged.
He was committed to joining UCLA’s championship water polo team, but the university withdrew its offer following the Orange County Register’s report concerning the allegations levied against him.
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP, the law firm representing van der Woude, provided The Independent with the following statement:
“Lucca van der Woude categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation made against him. These claims are false. Lucca has conducted himself with integrity throughout his academic and athletic career, and he will not allow false accusations to define him now and/or in the future.”
“We have full confidence that the truth will emerge through the proper legal process, and we look forward to presenting Lucca’s complete defense. We will have no further comment while this matter is pending.”
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