A North Carolina Christian School has been smacked with a civil suit that alleges negligence regarding the former dean of spiritual formation. The dean has been accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with a student. Asheville Christian Academy is a PreK-12 private school in Swannanoa. The accusations were made by an anonymous female student.
In the suit, former coach and dean of spiritual formation 52-year-old Jason Ingle, was named the accused party. He was fired from his position last June. Ingle was arrested in June and held at Buncombe County Detention Facility on a $10,000 secured bond. According to arrest warrants, Ingle was “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously” engaged in a sex act with an 18-year-old student in February 2024.
The lawsuit describes how the anonymous student, who began attending the school at age 10, was groomed by Ingle “all with the goal of lowering [her] inhibitions with the ultimate plan of sexually abusing and exploiting [her].” The victim alleges the grooming began when the plaintiff “was in 7th or 8th grade,” according to the suit. The lawsuit notes several red flags that the school ignored.
Ingle would meet her alone in his car on numerous occasions, spend time with her early in the morning for athletic workouts, and spend significant amounts of time during school hours alone in his office with her, often with the door closed, blinds drawn, and lights out. According to the filing, Ingle had a photograph of the girl on his desk beside a photo of his wife and would eat alone with her during school functions.
The lawsuit states that the school “unconscionably allowed this egregious and outrageous conduct to continue without taking any steps to report, intervene, investigate, discipline, pursue criminal charges, stop the grooming, abuse, and exploitation or take any other steps to protect [the student].” Lawyers say staff worked together to “cover up the grooming, sexual exploitation and sexual abuse” of the plaintiff.
It also explains how ACA administrators, faculty, and staff willfully and wantonly failed to intervene and were unable to report the abhorrent behaviors as required by law.” Former head of school William George, former associate head of school Wade Tapp, as well as Taylor Bell and Alexis Zanias, two teachers who have since been placed on administrative leave are all named in the suit specifically.
According to reporters, a school resource officer walked George off the school’s campus when he was fired in June. George worked as the head of school at ACA for 32 years. Sources close to the situation told reporters that the ACA Board of Directors handled the situation badly and has put current employees on edge. However, the ACA board assured the public that they are committed to maintaining the safety of students.
An anonymous source said “The current leadership seems to equate throwing people under the bus with standing for righteousness. This makes the current faculty and staff feel like their positions are tenuous.” The board told reporters, “Asheville Christian Academy was recently named in a lawsuit, we are reviewing the complaint allegations and will respond to them during the course of litigation. We consider it essential to our mission to keep our students safe and maintain an environment in which they can thrive.”