Principal denies allegations he sexually abused boy in ’ 90s

DANBURY— A lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in Waterbury on Thursday alleges that a man who now serves as interim principal at a Danbury elementary school sexually abused a boy over a 7year period, starting in the late 1990s.

Marc Poliquin, 37, who is named in the suit, has denied the allegations and said he will fight them “all the way” in court.

“This lawsuit is totally false,” Poliquin said Saturday morning. “I have no idea what motivated the claimant to make those accusations.”

The Hartford Courant first reported the story.

The Danbury schools’ website lists Poliquin as an interim principal at King Street Primary School, which serves kids in kindergarten through third grade.

“These are deeply troubling allegations,” said Mayor Mark Boughton. He learned of the lawsuit this morning and immediately called Superintendent Sal Pascarella, who is looking into the situation, Boughton said.

“I’m sure the superintendent will take the appropriate action,” Boughton said, adding that the district is planning a meeting with Poliquin and will likely release a statement Monday.

Board of Education Chairman Pat Johnston said the school administration was aware of the situation and looking into it. He had no further information as of midday Saturday.

Superintendent Sal Pascarella could not immediately be reached for comment.

In court documents obtained from an online search of state records, the complaint alleges Poliquin started abusing a boy in 1996, when Poliquin was 15 years old and the boy was 10. The alleged abuse ended

in 2003, when Poliquin was 22, the complaint says.

The plaintiff, who uses the pseudonym “John Doe” in the lawsuit, says Poliquin sexually assaulted him between 50 and 100 times, causing “extreme trauma, mental anguish, and psychological injuries, which are permanent in nature.”

The plaintiff’s attorney, Brooke A. Goff, said her “client wasn’t going to come forward at all,” but when he learned Poliquin was named principal, he decided he had to speak out.

Goff conducted her own fourtofive month investigation into the claims, she said.