3-year-old, 6-year-old sexually assaulted by hotel worker in South Dakota, lawsuit says
When a 6-year-old boy asked his mother if he and his 3-year-old brother could use the “big boy’s” bathroom in a South Dakota hotel lobby, their mother allowed it.
The mother let her two sons go into the men’s restroom alone while she stood outside at the Spearfish Holiday Inn, according to a lawsuit filed Oct. 3 in U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. When her two boys took longer than expected, she tried to enter the bathroom to check on them.
She attempted to open the door to the bathroom, but it was blocked. She forced it open to find a hotel employee with his pants down, the lawsuit said, and her two boys came running out saying the man had inappropriately touched them.
The parents of the two young boys said in the lawsuit that the hotel employee sexually assaulted their sons and that Frontier Lodging of Spearfish LLC, the company that owns and operates the establishment, failed to do a criminal background check on the man, who they said has “a history of pedophilia.”
Frontier Lodging of Spearfish’s attorney denied the allegations made in the lawsuit.
“We plan to vigorously defend this lawsuit,” attorney Josh Finer said in an email to McClatchy News.
The family traveled from their home in Minnesota to stay at an Airbnb in South Dakota for a family wedding. They visited the hotel to eat at the adjoining restaurant, which shared a bathroom with the hotel, with other wedding guests, the lawsuit said.
On Dec. 15, when the two boys were in the bathroom, hotel employee Raven Schily covered the 6-year-old’s mouth so he couldn’t scream for help, then exposed himself to the children, the lawsuit says. He touched them inappropriately and forced them to touch him, according to the lawsuit.
Schily also forced the brothers to watch as he sexually assaulted them individually, the lawsuit said.
The incident traumatized the two young children, the lawsuit said, and the two boys still ask their parents if the “bad man” will return.
They struggle to sleep, refuse to use public restrooms and are anxious, according to the lawsuit. The parents say the older brother blames himself for not protecting his 3-year-old brother from Schily.
Schily was arrested immediately after the incident at the hotel, according to court documents.
He pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a minor and kidnapping in Lawrence County, according to the lawsuit. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
McClatchy News could not immediately locate Schily’s attorney information.
The parents said the hotel should have protected the family-friendly environment from Schily.
According to the lawsuit, Schily had been accused of sexually assaulting children when he was a teenager and spent time in a treatment facility.
He was also an active drug user, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit says the Frontier Lodging of Spearfish LLC did not perform a criminal background check or drug test on Schily before he was hired.
The family from Minnesota is demanding a jury trial.
Spearfish is about a 390-mile drive northwest from Sioux Falls.
This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 11:43 AM with the headline "3-year-old, 6-year-old sexually assaulted by hotel worker in South Dakota, lawsuit says."
