Suit faults police probe of sexual assault

Alleges police deferred to Brunswick School in investigation of case involving student

Allegations in a federal lawsuit against the town of Greenwich contend police allowed Brunswick School to manipulate and control an investigation into an alleged sexual assault by one of its students.

The family of a teenage girl from Greenwich has filed suit in U. S. District Court in Hartford against members of the Police Department’s Special Victims Section over its handling of their claim that she was sexually assaulted by a Brunswick student at a pool party they hosted. The family contends police allowed the Brunswick headmaster to interview witnesses before officers did, enabling the school to shape a narrative that there was no probable cause for criminal charges. The lawsuit claims police investigators did a substandard job in other areas as well, and that a detective sergeant tried to talk the girl’s father into dropping the matter.

“I think it was an effort to come to a predetermined result,” said Meredith Braxton, a lawyer for the family. “They figured out a way so that prosecutors would not act on it.”

Greenwich police filed an application for an arrest warrant for the Brunswick student, who was 16 at the time, in late 2016. The matter never made it to a judge. State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo declined to sign off on the application. Braxton and the family contend the warrant application contained misleading and erroneous information that wrongly cast doubt on the alleged victim’s claims. This included witness testimony from another girl who wasn’t at the party, and who had been disciplined at school for bullying the alleged victim, according to the lawsuit.

Another lawsuit, filed against Brunswick School in state Superior Court, contends that the school and its headmaster, Thomas Philip, took steps to delay the police investigation and coordinate witness accounts. That lawsuit seeks monetary damages from Brunswick for the emotional distress incurred by the girl, now 18, according to court papers filed in Bridgeport.

The federal lawsuit names the town of Greenwich, and two police officers, Detective Sgt. Brent Reeves and Detective Krystie Rondini, as defendants.

The father of the girl says he received a call from Reeves about the case in which the detective said “it wasn’t a case worth pursuing because there was no witness to the actual assault,” according to the lawsuit. The sergeant also said the “complaint would ruin the boy’s ‘ college chances,’ and expose Plaintiff and her family to liability for doing so,” according to the lawsuit.

The father claims he was told his adult son could face criminal liability over a physical altercation that took place between him and the Brunswick student before the incident in the pool house, the lawsuit says. According to the court papers, the father also was told it was “futile to pursue the complaint.”

The girl’s parents say the Brunswick student forced himself on her, pulled off part of her clothing and digitally penetrated her against her will as she struggled to get away from him in a pool house at the party in June 2016. The alleged assailant and most other Brunswick students at the party were interviewed by Philip before police investigators, according to the lawsuit. The girl attended Greenwich Academy, which has shared programs with Brunswick.

“There was a policy of standing down, and letting Brunswick do the investigation,” Braxton said. “That’s inappropriate.”

She claims the Brunswick administration created a unified story among the witnesses that held it was impossible to determine whether a sexual assault had taken place.

She also asserts an “inappropriate back channel,” between Greenwich police and former department officers now employed in private security at Brunswick, worked to “prevent negative publicity from tarnishing the reputation of Brunswick.” The lawyer had no specific information proving collusion, beyond what she said were indications of a mutual strategy to ensure charges weren’t filed.

The alleged perpetrator was allowed to remain a student at Brunswick, according to court papers, so he interacted frequently with the girl at joint school functions. She suffered anxiety and panic attacks, according to the lawsuit, and has been receiving psychological counseling. The girl’s family said she was also criticized and ostracized after the incident by other students in the schools’ shared community, while the alleged perpetrator faced few consequences.

Lawyers for the town and the officers involved are denying any wrongdoing.

“Our position is, it’s sad what happened to the family,” said Bob Mitchell, representing the town and the two officers. “The police did a thorough and proper investigation. We find the complaint without merit.”

Town Attorney Wayne Fox said Town Hall, as a matter of practice, does not comment on pending litigation.

“I have sympathy for the family and what they went through with their daughter,” Fox said. “At the same time, we have a great deal of confidence in the leadership of the Police Department, and the officers of the Police Department.”

Brunswick released the following statement this week: “At the time of the incident, Brunswick responded as it unfolded in a manner consistent with well- established policies and procedures, as well as with compassion for and consideration of the rights of both the students involved. The administration of Brunswick School acted appropriately throughout this matter and we will vigorously defend against these false claims.”

The girl’s family and their lawyer contend there was more than enough probable cause for a misdemeanor arrest, at least. They say the boy was visibly drunk and had engaged in hostile behavior with other people at the gathering before the alleged assault. The state lawsuit states Brunswick students sneaked alcohol into the party, and that the hosts did not serve any alcohol to their adult or minor guests.

They family cites the boy’s later text messages asking their daughter for forgiveness as “inculpatory,” or indicative of guilt. They say their daughter has consistently maintained the same story, restating it on repeated occasions to authority figures.

Baxter said the police investigation was ineffectual, and she contends the alleged perpetrator was never officially interviewed by police at all, based on the documents she received from the Police Department through a Freedom of Information request. She said other witnesses, including a boy who went into the pool house immediately after the events in question, and later went home with alleged perpetrator, were never formally interviewed by police, and were allowed to submit written statements. Baxter said Philip was never questioned by police, either, after he had conducted interviews with students.

Colangelo and Heavey did not respond to requests for comments.