PEORIA – A former Bureau County teacher acquitted of charges that she had sex with a 15-year-old student has sued her supervisors in federal court, alleging they violated her civil rights when they investigated the boy’s claims.

The four-count suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Peoria, claims the Hall High School Board, former superintendent Daniel Oest, principal Patricia Lunn, and dean of students Gary Vicini did not follow proper procedure and even bullied the boy into confessing that he had sex with Gina Purvis, now of Fredericktown, Mo.

Also named in the suit are the city of Spring Valley and the city’s police chief, Douglas Bernabei. The suit seeks up to $40 million in damages.

Purvis was a biology teacher at Hall High School when the student began to tell others the two were having an affair. When Lunn and Vicini first investigated in spring 2004, they took no action. However, that fall, when the boy began to spread more rumors, Vicini and Oest investigated again and this time, allegedly pressured the student into saying Purvis and he had sex.

The suit also claims Purvis had filed a confidential report against Vicini, accusing him of sexually harassing a girl. However, Lunn told Vicini it was Purvis who had filed the report and then allowed Vicini to participate in the investigation regarding the accusations against Purvis, the suit alleges.

The suit also alleges Bernabei did not properly investigate the case, do forensic checks on the boy’s computer and check for DNA in one of the school’s storage rooms where one of the encounters was supposed to have occurred.

The chief also coached the boy on what to say at trial so his story would sound more credible, according to the suit.

In a statement, Spring Valley officials said Thursday they were confident the city and Bernabei would prevail and that the investigation “was conducted in a competent, thorough and professional manner.”

Attempts to reach school officials were unsuccessful Thursday afternoon.