CLAYTON • The mother of a 13-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted from a middle school stairwell by four male students and sexually assaulted in a school bathroom has filed a lawsuit against the Hazelwood School District and several employees, saying the school failed to properly supervise the male students.

The incident allegedly happened on May 2 at Hazelwood West Middle School at 12834 Missouri Bottom Road. The girl, who was a seventh-grade student at the time, was attacked by four students who had been in physical education class and ordered by a teacher to leave their class to return their backpacks to their lockers, without adult supervision or hall passes, which is against school policy, says the suit.

The boys' actions were monitored by surveillance cameras and recorded on video, and school officials had enough time to prevent the assault but failed to do so, the suit says.

The suit, which was filed last month in St. Louis County Circuit Court, also names school principal Allison Klouse, sixth- and seventh-grade principal Kate Sievers, security guard Mark Baldwin, and physical education teachers Stacy Hargrove, Chris Williams, and Scott Penning.

The suit also says that upon learning of the attack, Sievers sent the girl back to class alone, exposing her to the attackers in the hallways and at the bus stop. The girl has been enrolled in a private school and is undergoing therapy to deal with the incident, the suit says.

The district has since filed a motion to dismiss the suit, saying that the defendants are immune from negligence claims.

District spokeswoman Diana Gulotta said Wednesday she cannot comment on the matter and that the incident was handled by juvenile authorities.