A lawsuit seeking $27 million has been filed in Jackson County Circuit Court against Children’s World Montessori school in Ashland alleging the school allowed former teacher Craig Johnson to “carry out a widespread scheme of child sexual abuse and exploitation on the school’s campus,” according to a copy of the lawsuit reviewed by Ashland.news.

“For over a decade, a male teacher at Children’s World Montessori Toddler & Preschool Program (‘Children’s World’) victimized an unknown number of children between the ages of one and five years old, too young to comprehend the abuse they were being forced to participate in,” court documents said.

Bonnie Richardson, an attorney representing the family of the plaintiff  — a minor child proceeding under a pseudonym — stated the family is still determining if their child was 3 or 4 at the time Johnson took photos of her in a school bathroom. The mother was at home when a black SUV pulled up outside and two detectives began walking to the door.

“They said, ‘We need to show you some photos,’” Richardson said.

The mother said both detectives were very kind, and sensitive enough to blur portions of photos. It was clear they were taken in a bathroom. The family is withholding their identity to protect their child from becoming nominally associated with the case while also seeking justice for her and an unknown number of other victimized children, Richardson said.

The number of victims is unknown because the children in Johnson’s care were under the age of 5 and likely unable to communicate what was happening to them then and may not have distinct memories of the abuse now, she said. When Johnson’s actions and criminal charges became public in the fall of 2024, families began seeking information from the school.

After months of various overtures, including a letter sent on behalf of parents by Richardson’s office and receiving little to no information from Children’s World, one family chose to anonymously sue to gain justice and more information, Richardson said.

Johnson, 68, has been held in Jackson County Jail since his July 30, 2024, arrest with bail currently set at $1 million, according to the jail roster. A grand jury charged Johnson in September 2024 with numerous charges, including 14 counts of using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct, six counts of attempted using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct and two counts of first degree encouraging child sex abuse, as previously reported by Ashland.news. 

A pre-trial conference in the case is set for May 5.

The lawsuit argues the school looked past numerous potential warning signs about Johnson, including complaints of excessive touching from parents along with what the lawsuit refers to as “classic grooming behaviors,” such as giving personalized gifts or extra attention to girls in his care. The school also allowed Johnson to continue taking students into the bathroom after he was instructed not to.

“Children’s World had an internal bathroom policy, procedure, or rule whereby Johnson was not allowed to take children to use the bathroom alone. … Despite the policy, Johnson repeatedly took children to the bathroom alone and with the door closed,” the lawsuit states.

The school also overlooked domestic violence charges prior to his hiring, according to the lawsuit. Johnson was charged with two misdemeanor charges of first-degree harassment and fourth-degree assault in 1998, according to additional court records.

A person formally associated with the school who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation informed Ashland.news Johnson was hired as a teacher at Children’s World between 2012 and 2013. Johnson shared a classroom with another teacher and it was “common” for teachers to split their classrooms for periods of time, the source said. Legal restrictions on child-to-teacher ratios followed by the school at that time were 10 or fewer children to a single teacher, the source said.

“The assumption is, once you’re hired and you’ve passed the background check, that it’s safe,” the source said.

Since learning their child was one of Johnson’s victims, the family in the lawsuit researched signs of child sexual abuse and, in retrospect, can see multiple signs, Richardson said. For a period of time their child showed regression in bathroom behaviors and had nightmares about a naked man. The family recalls at that time, staff at the school informed them their child had problems that needed to be attended to.

“They wanted families to know, you think it’s something that can never happen to you,” she said.

The lawsuit holds Children’s World responsible because “abuse prevention protocols should have been enforced. Children’s World failed to enact and enforce basic preventative measures to ensure the safety of the children under their care,” the lawsuit said.

The figure of $27 million was arrived at in consideration of the victim’s age and the lifelong psychological impact of Johnson’s actions, Richardson said.

Civil lawsuits only represent one side of the story. The defendants have not yet filed responses with the court.

Children’s World Montessori school did not immediately respond Thursday to an invitation to comment.

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.