Former theater director charged

Accused of sexually assaulting a minor over multiple years

Police in Southington have charged a 45-year-old man formerly involved in teen theater work with having “inappropriate contact” with a child over multiple years.

Daniel Checovetes turned himself in to police Friday on three counts of second-degree sexual assault, according to the Southington Police Department. State judicial records indicate the charges specifically involve someone in a role of “power, authority or supervision” over the victim.

The charges stem from a report police received in 2017. The allegations involve inappropriate contact with a juvenile over multiple years, police said. Judicial records place the time of the allegations between 2015 and 2016.

Checovetes was freed on $50,000 bond following an appearance in New Britain Superior Court on Friday. He did not enter a plea during the hearing and is due back in court on June 16.

According to judicial records, Checovetes is a defendant in a lawsuit filed in Waterbury Superior Court in December 2019 in which a woman contends that, when she was a minor, she was sexually assaulted, abused and exploited by Checovetes in the summer of 2015 and through the following summer at the Thomaston Opera House and “other locations.”

Checovetes was involved in theater production as a director at the Thomaston Opera House, which was operated by Landmark Community Theater, Inc. — which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The plaintiff was involved in theater productions as well at the time, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit contends that Landmark Theater knew prior to 2015 that some of its “agents, apparent agents, servants, and/ or employees were sexually attracted to minors.”

The lawsuit — which also names Naugatuck Teen Theater, LLC., as a defendant — seeks more than $15,000 in monetary, punitive and exemplary damages.