A water polo star accused of racially abusing a black teammate and subjecting him to sexual assault at their $50,000-a-year private school in Los Angeles apologized for his actions in damning texts, court documents show.
After a number of alleged racial incidents against student Aidan Romain including daily racial slurs and digitally penetrating him on campus, teammate Lucca Van Der Woude wrote the message in the team’s group chat, the lawsuit alleges.
“I want to apologize for everything that has happened. Most of the issues have been my fault and I’m sorry,” he allegedly wrote on January 26, 2024, according to the suit.
“I know it hurts the team and I’m very sorry for that. I promise to be better moving forward.” he continued. The suit points to the text and says “Lucca Van Der Woude acknowledged his wrongdoing.”
The papers allege Van Der Woude and two other teammates repeatedly subjected Romain, who was a minor at the time, to racist and sexual abuse between August 2022 and February 2024.
Harvard-Westlake School, which has annual fees of $52,500, allegedly failed to report, investigate, or take protective measures after being told about the reported abuse, according to the lawsuit.
Another text from Janine Jones, who served as Harvard-Westlake’s assistant head of school for community and belonging, was also mentioned in the papers.
Jones allegedly sent Romain’s parents the message after they reported via email their son had been sexually assaulted in February of 2024 by a teammate in the school’s outdoor showers.
“I should be seeing Aidan shortly … but I don’t want to make him uncomfortable by checking on him,” the text begins.
“I know your email was directed towards Terry, Matt, and Jack re not discussing the assault but I wanted to check with you just to make sure.”
Harvard-Westlake, through its lawyers, denied it received any report from Romain’s parents that he had been sexually assaulted, according to the lawsuit, which points to the text as “contemporaneous evidence.”
A Harvard-Westlake spokesperson told the California Post that it “unequivocally disputes many of these allegations that mischaracterize facts and the schools 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 spokesperson said, adding that the school “also cooperated completely with law enforcement.”
The suit alleges the severe emotional distress eventually forced Romain to relocate to Barcelona, Spain, in 2024 to continue his water polo training in a safe environment.
Van der Woude once considered a future Olympic prospect, is in hiding after the bombshell lawsuit was exposed.
The 18-year-old, who is the son of longtime film assistant director Thomas “Basti” Van Der Woude, was nowhere to be found when The Post visited his parents’ palatial home in Costa Mesa.
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