Duxbury school officials respond to lawsuit alleging rape that resulted in fatal overdose
In a response to a public lawsuit by Duxbury parents, the town’s senior school officials Tuesday issued a statement denying they “failed to take reasonable steps” to thwart repeated sexual assaults alleged in that lawsuit.
The school officials added both the Duxbury police and Plymouth District Attorney’s office have investigated, but no charges can be brought because the alleged victim is dead.
The parents of 27-year-old Joseph “Parker” Foley, who died from a drug overdose last year, are accusing his Duxbury Middle School gym teacher of raping him, the lawsuit alleges. That, the parents claim, is why their son became an addict. He also asked them to keep it quiet.
In addition to suing former teacher John Blake — who was the high school varsity boys hockey coach — the parents are also bringing the lawsuit against Duxbury Public Schools.
Foley’s parents add that the school district was “grossly negligent,” and did not do enough to protect their son from Blake’s alleged repeated sexual abuse. Their son was about 12 at the time.
“The setup of the boys’ locker room at the Duxbury Middle School allowed Blake to act as a gatekeeper for boys attending gym class, and Blake used his power and authority to hold boys back from gym class at his whim and discretion,” the parents’ lawyer wrote in a complaint filed in Plymouth County Superior Court.
“For Parker, that unfettered and unchecked power and authority had serious and tragic consequences,” the lawsuit alleges.
The alleged sexual abuse happened in the mid-2000s. Blake is accused of holding Parker back from gym class, leading him to an empty classroom, and sexually abusing “an innocent and helpless young boy,” the parents allege.
The district is accused of failing to check on a student who was repeatedly missing from class — which “proved to be tragic for Parker,” the suit adds.
The alleged sexual abuse “pushed Parker to a life of drug abuse to escape the mental pain and anguish that followed,” the lawsuit claims. Parker died from a drug overdose last year, according to the suit.
The school district denies the allegations.
“We are understandably disturbed by what has been alleged, but need to make clear that this District took the proper actions once we were notified of a complaint,” School Committee Chair Kellie Bresnehan and Superintendent of Schools John Antonucci said in a joint statement. “It is absolutely untrue that the District failed to take reasonable steps and/or implement reasonable safeguards to avoid such acts from occurring in our schools, as is alleged in the lawsuit.”
When accusations surfaced in 2018 and again in 2020, the district said it launched investigations and placed Blake on leave.
The 2018 investigation was based on an anonymous letter and an anonymous phone call with no details about the student’s age, name, or other identifying information, the school said. As a result, the 2018 investigation went cold.
Then in November, the parents’ lawyer revealed their identity to the school district and confirmed specific information about the alleged abuse. Blake was again placed on leave.
A new investigation was launched with an outside firm while the district “remained in close contact with the Duxbury Police Department and the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.”
“Even though there was not enough evidence to warrant criminal charges be filed against Blake, the District’s independent investigation concluded that Blake had violated the District’s sexual harassment policy and code of conduct,” the officials said.
Blake has been on leave from the school district since November, pending the completion of a “comprehensive external investigation and termination proceedings.”
Blake could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Duxbury Police Department was contacted in November by Parker’s parents about the alleged sexual abuse, according to Chief Stephen McDonald. He said Tuesday that the department investigated, but “ultimately found that charges could not be brought forward because the alleged victim in the case was deceased.”
The lawsuit hits as Duxbury is dealing with its varsity football team accused of using anti-Semitic audibles, including the word “Auschwitz.” Games continue to be called off.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3u6qFh4
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