Principal convicted of failing to report abuse claim
Providence (AP) — A Rhode Island elementary school principal was convicted Monday of a misdemeanor charge of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse against a gym teacher.
Violet LeMar’s conviction is the first since the state’s reporting law was amended in 2016 following revelations of widespread abuse at St. George’s School in Middletown. The law now explicitly requires school workers and volunteers to report allegations of abuse to child welfare authorities within 24 hours.
District Court Judge James Caruolo sentenced LeMar to 50 hours of community service, as well as a year of probation and one year suspended, meaning if she violates certain conditions she could potentially be given a year in jail, according to the attorney general’s office.
Her lawyer moved immediately to appeal to superior court.
The judge blasted LeMar during the four-day bench trial, calling her testimony and her actions in the case “false and deceptive,” and saying her demeanor on the stand indignant, evasive and “almost orchestrated.”
LeMar, 45, of Somerset, Mass., had testified at trial that she alerted the Providence school department about the allegations made by fifth-grade girls at Harry Kizirian Elementary last spring. She said that based on how the girls described what happened, she didn’t believe the conduct was sexual in nature. She also testified that she was unaware she was required to make a report to the Department of Children, Youth and Families within 24 hours.