Kansas mom reports bullying at Catholic school -- so principal accuses her of child abuse: suit

A Kansas woman said school administrators got a child abuse investigation launched against her after she reported that her daughter had been bullied.

Melissa Schroeder filed a defamation lawsuit last week against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City, Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Shawnee, and the school’s principal, reported KSHB-TV.

Schroeder said she reported the bullying in April 2014, and she provided notes from a doctor who found the 10-year-old girl’s severe migraines may have been the result of mistreatment at school.

But the principal did not take the claims seriously, according to the suit – and told the woman that “perhaps this school is not for you.”

The Kansas Department of Children and Families opened a child abuse and neglect investigation against Schroeder – which she says was launched by a complaint filed by the principal.

The suit claims the principal told DCF that Schroeder asked “for the anointing of the sick” and “requested an exorcism” – but the woman denies making those requests.

She met with a priest to discuss the situation, and he confirmed the principal had made the DCF complaint after meeting with the superintendent and a nun.

The DCF investigation was closed after finding no signs of abuse and neglect, said Schroeder’s attorney.

Schroeder’s suit seeks punitive damages for defamation, malicious prosecution, and invasion of privacy.

The archdiocese declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Watch this video report posted online by KSHB-TV: