District accused in $5M molestation lawsuit

A summer camp counselor accused of molesting a young girl is now the focus of a $5 million civil lawsuit accusing the Broward School District of failing to protect another girl from the same man.

The suit claims Christopher Lawrence Falzone, 35, of Davie, repeatedly fondled a secondrecords grader while working as a substitute teacher at Sheridan Hills Elementary School, 5001 Thomas St., in Hollywood, during the 2011-2012 school year.

The suit alleges Falzone rubbed the girl’s back, hugged her and engaged in inappropriate touching when she was 8 and 9 years old.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, claims the school district knew about the allegations.

At the time, the Broward State Attorney’s Office investigated the claim but decided not to criminally prosecute Falzone, saying a conviction in the case would be unlikely, court show.

An investigative memo indicated there were two other girls with similar claims but their parents declined to pursue the case beyond the school district’s investigation.

The school district confirmed Falzone was a substitute teacher at several schools between 2008 and 2013 until

he was removed from the substitute teacher’s list Oct. 2, 2013.

The lawsuit filed by attorney Jeffrey Herman, who has represented clients in about 1,000 sexual abuse cases, is seeking a minimum of $5 million in damages from the Broward School District on behalf of the alleged victim’s mother. They now live in Indian River County.

“That mother is livid,” Herman said. “It was promised he would never work with kids again and then [she] finds out, obviously this week, that he’s working at the camp and he’s working at Renaissance Charter School.”

The civil action was filed days after Falzone’s arrest in an unrelated case.

He was arrested Monday and accused of molesting a young girl about 15 times while working as a counselor at Camp Live Oak in Fort Lauderdale between June 11 and Aug. 3, according to the police report.

He was released from the Broward County Jail on Wednesday on a $25,000 bond, court records show.

Falzone was a third-grade teacher at Renaissance Charter School at Cooper City, but the school announced Friday morning that he had been fired.

“In light of allegations and the arrest of Christopher Falzone regarding activities that occurred over the summer at a summer camp, Mr. Falzone is no longer employed at our school,” the statement read.

Camp Live Oak released a similar statement after Falzone’s arrest.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for inappropriate misconduct within or peripherally related to our organization. We are cooperating with local authorities to advance the investigation of an alleged incident involving inappropriate misconduct,” said Ken Evans, executive director of Camp Live Oak.

The Broward School District stated it does not comment on potential, pending or open litigation.

Falzone