Lawsuit accuses hotel of failing to perform background check on sex offender
SPEARFISH, S.D. – A company that operates a hotel in the Black Hills has been sued by the parents of two boys who were sexually assaulted by a hotel employee during a family event last year.
Frontier Lodging of Spearfish LLC operates the Spearfish Holiday Inn Convention Center & Lucky’s 13 Pub. The lawsuit accuses the company and hotel of failing to perform a background check on the employee, Raven Michael Schily.
The couple, from Minnesota, are identified in the lawsuit as John and Jane Doe to protect the privacy of their children, who are identified as Johnny, 6, and Jack, 3.
The family traveled to Spearfish from Minnesota on Dec. 14, 2023, to celebrate the wedding of John Doe’s brother, according to the complaint. The family had not been to Spearfish and planned to use the outing for a long weekend to explore the Black Hills.
The Does stayed at a short-term rental in Spearfish. But most of the wedding party and guests stayed at the Spearfish Holiday Inn. The hotel includes amenities designed to cater to families, including an indoor pool, children’s pool and game room. The adjoining pub billed itself as a “family friendly” restaurant.
Unbeknownst to the family, the hotel employed Schily, a sex offender who had spent much of his teenage years in a psychiatric treatment center in Huron for “sexually aggressive males,” according to the complaint. At the time of the incident, Schily had already been caught performing sex acts on young children.
“Despite the danger that Schily presented to children, the Spearfish Holiday Inn hired him to work at its hotel and restaurant,” the complaint reads.
Paul Darling, the member manager of Frontier Lodging of Spearfish, did not return a message from The Dakota Scout seeking comment. The Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce lists Darling as the owner of Americal Inc., a business consultant to hotels.
On Friday Dec. 15, the Does met the groom, bride and other relatives for breakfast at Lucky’s 13 Pub. During the course of the meal, the two boys had to use the restroom. Normally their mother would escort them to a female restroom, but Johnny wanted to take his younger brother to the men’s room
The mother accompanied the boys and waited outside the restroom. Inside, they encountered Schily, who immediately attacked them by clasping his hand over Johnny’s mouth and then placing his genitals on both boys. He then groped both boys under their underwear.
Concerned that they were taking so long, Jane tried to open the door, but it was initially blocked.
“Jane forced the door open and saw Schily, with his pants down, blocking the door,” the lawsuit says.
The boys fled the restroom. Their faces were red, and the older one told his mother that a man had touched them in the restroom. The mom grabbed the children and asked the front desk to call the police. She alerted her husband and brother-in-law. They found Schily hiding in the manager’s room.
“While they waited, Johnny asked his mom if he could shower to ‘get the bad man off him,’” the complaint says.
They spent the rest of the weekend being interviewed by police and child crime advocates.
Schily, now 21, was indicted by a grand jury five days later. He was convicted in July of two counts of sexual assault with a minor. During the trial, the prosecution indicated that his phone contained searches on the dark web for child pornography.
Schily is currently serving his sentence in the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
Schily also used drugs while at work, and the lawsuit says Frontier should have known he was unsafe to guests.
The family is represented by Paul Dworak and Jeffrey Storms of Storms Dworak in Minneapolis and Anthony Bussa from Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
