$3 Million Settlement for Student Sexually Abused by Rowan County Coach, Believed Largest of Its Kind in Kentucky History

Andrew Zaheri was a teacher and assistant boys basketball coach at Rowan County Senior High School when he began grooming a female student during her freshman year, when she was 14. The abuse escalated into repeated rape and sexual abuse and continued through her senior year. Zaheri was convicted in 2024 on federal child pornography production charges and state charges including rape and sodomy, and was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.

The victim, identified in court filings as Jane Doe, sued the Rowan County Board of Education, former Superintendent John Maxey, and former Principal Jordan Mann in May 2023. Court documents alleged that Mann received at least eight separate reports of the abuse between late September and December 2022 but took no meaningful action to protect the student. Discovery in the case turned up messages between Mann and Zaheri that prompted student walkouts at the school in 2025.

Jon Hollan of Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers represented the plaintiff, alongside co-counsel Jonathan Fannin of Minner Vines Injury Lawyers. Hollan argued the school district's institutional failure, not just Zaheri's individual conduct, was at the center of the case. After nearly three years of litigation, the parties reached a $3 million settlement announced February 16, 2026. The settlement is not an admission of liability by the district.

Rowan Circuit Court rejected a non-disparagement clause the district sought to include, ruling the victim retained her First Amendment rights to speak about the case. The victim stated she was not personally taking any of the settlement money at the time of announcement, setting it aside for future use.

Attorney Hollan said after the resolution: "If you're going to abuse children in Kentucky, if your school system is going to allow sexual abuse to happen in Kentucky, the price went up on these cases because of this case." The district agreed to mandatory annual staff training on abuse prevention as part of the resolution.

The $3 million figure is believed to be the largest settlement in Kentucky history for sexual abuse of a single victim within a school system. Zaheri remains in federal prison.