Montville schools face suit over teacher sex assaults
A Connecticut school district — the recent focus of a state investigation into its handling of a student’s sexual misconduct claims — is facing similar accusations in a lawsuit filed by one of the victims of a former teacher who has been convicted of sexually assaulting students on school grounds.
A former Montville High School student, who is referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, contends that a former drama and chorus teacher “exploited” and repeatedly sexually abused her on campus during school hours in 2008.
The former teacher, Russell Andrews, was charged and convicted of two counts of seconddegree sexual assault for incidents that involved Jane Doe and another student. In 2009, Andrews was sentenced to seven years in prison and 20 years probation, according to the state Judicial Branch. He is also listed on the state’s Sex Offender Registry.
The woman is suing the Montville Board of Education for unspecified damages, claiming the district didn’t properly vet Andrews before he was hired and failed to act on reports that he was having sex with her and other students for months on school grounds, including in the auditorium, the lawsuit stated.
“I think this situation involving my client is a clear-cut case of negligence,” the woman’s attorney, Kelly Reardon, said. “What I find interesting and sad is that the more discovery we do, the more depositions and evidence we receive, it’s very obvious that Montville High School dropped the ball.”
Attorney Jeffrey Kennedy, representing the Montville Board of Education in the lawsuit, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe said she has suffered mental health issues since the assaults and was bullied at school after the allegations came to light. She is seeking damages to cover the cost of treatment and the loss of wages since the assaults have impacted her ability to earn a living, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in 2019.
As the lawsuit heads to trial in February, the school district was the recent focus of a state investigation in another case where a student accused educators of failing to immediately report her sexual misconduct claims.
Three Montville High School educators have been cleared of wrongdoing after being accused of failing to immediately report an allegation of verbal sexual misconduct involving a teacher last year.
The New London State’s Attorney concluded the educators did not violate state mandated reporter laws when they learned of allegations involving Tanner Grove, a social studies teacher and football coach who was placed on paid administrative leave in October when the accusations surfaced.
Grove allegedly made inappropriate comments to a female student, “that if true, are wholly inappropriate and indefensible,” New London State’s Attorney Paul Narducci said in a statement this week.
But, Narducci said, “it is my opinion that those words do not rise to ‘abuse’ or ‘neglect’” as defined by the state statute. He said the comments “do not place the child in the imminent risk of physical harm, or fall within the proscribed actions set forth” in the statute.
“Accordingly, there is no obligation by a mandated reporter to file a report,” he stated.
The state Department of Children and Families received a report about the incident from the Montville Police Department on Sept. 30, according to agency spokesperson Gary Kleeblatt.
The joint investigation into the verbal sexual misconduct allegations conducted with law enforcement was closed on Nov. 12, Kleeblatt said.
There has been no arrest in connection with the allegations.
DCF cannot reveal the findings of the investigation due to state confidentiality laws, Kleeblatt said.
According to a separate law, DCF also assesses incidents of a mandatory reporter delaying or failing to report allegations of abuse, Kleeblatt said.
The issue of whether a delay in reporting had taken place was referred to Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo on Nov. 24, according to Ken Mysogland, who is also a spokesperson for DCF.
The agency “did have information that could constitute a violation of the mandated reporter law,” which is why the case was referred to Colangelo’s office, Mysogland said.
Mandated reporters such as school staff and health care professionals have 12 hours to verbally report instances of suspected abuse “if they have reasonable cause to do so,” according to state law.
In order to rise to the level of a violation of state law, a mandated reporter would have to fail to report or delay a report of a child under the age of 18 who was subject to abuse or neglect as defined by the state statute or placed in imminent danger of serious harm. The verbal sexual misconduct did not fall under those categories, Narducci determined.
The penalty for violating the mandatory reporter law is up to one year in prison and a $2,000 fine. Anyone found guilty of violating the law must also participate in an educational and training program, according to the Office of Legislative Research.
Montville Superintendent of Schools Laurie Pallin confirmed this week that no one within the school system was still under investigation.
“It is my understanding that no employee of the Montville Public Schools is presently under investigation for failing to report allegations of child neglect or abuse to the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and furthermore that state and local investigations related to the incident have been closed,” Pallin wrote in an email.
Montville Board of Education Chair Wills Pike confirmed that Grove remains on paid administrative leave.
"The board will address his employment with the superintendent and take it from there," Pike said.