Educators accused of not reporting alleged abuse avoid arraignment

NEW BRITAIN — Attorney Raymond Hassett, representing a Plymouth educator charged with failing to report alleged sexual misconduct by fourth-grade teacher James Eschert who was scheduled to face a judge for the first time Wednesday, fled the courthouse with his client after filing a document seeking evidence in the case against her.

Hassett, along with Sherri Turner and Melisa Morelli, a second defendant in the case slated for arraignment Wednesday, was chased by television cameras as he sprinted out of the building before their cases were called. Hassett declined to comment as he ran past reporters in a courtroom at state Superior Court in New Britain.

The cases for Turner and Morelli, two of the four Plymouth educators charged, were continued until Oct. 13, according to the court. The continuance occurred before the judge was seated on the bench.

Hassett is seeking all video evidence, including body camera footage and recordings of his client, and all law enforcement reports, affidavits and memos regarding her arrest, in the motion he filed with a court clerk just before he ran out of the courtroom.

He did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Several members of the media, including local television stations, had shown up for the arraignments due to the highprofile nature of the allegations in the case.

Turner and Morelli were each scheduled to be arraigned on a single charge of failure to report the abuse, neglect or injury of a child or imminent risk of serious harm to a child. They both have been free on promises to appear since their arrests by Plymouth police last month.

Turner, Morelli and educators Crystal Collins and Rebecca Holleran were placed on leave and later arrested after a middle school principal notified the state Department of Children and Families in September 2021 that several parents and children had filed complaints about Eschert's behavior for years but their claims were never taken seriously, arrest warrants said.

As educators and administrators in Connecticut, the four are required by law to report allegations of abuse against children. But arrest warrants indicate they were aware that children and parents had repeatedly complained about Eschert's behavior but failed to take action.

Turner was a former principal at Plymouth Center School and Morelli was a mathematics interventionist for the 2021-22 school year. Turner was placed on leave on Nov. 5, 2021, while Morelli was placed on leave on April 12, 2022, school officials said.

Holleran was the head teacher and a mathematics coach/interventionist for the 2021-22 school year, according to the student and parent handbook. She was placed on leave on Nov. 5, 2021, school officials said. Collins is a retired principal of Plymouth Center School, where Eschert worked.