Local Private School Named In Lawsuit
The Groton Herald was notified by Boston Attorney Carmen L. Durso that on March 20, 2013 he filed a suit in Suffolk Superior Court alleging that his client. A young man referred to in the complaint as plaintiff "John Doe" was sexually abused and raped, while he was a minor, by a female teacher" while he was a student at both the Pike School located in Andover, and later at Groton School.
The suit further alleges that the rape and abuse was able to occur because of the "negligence of the administrators and teachers of The Pike School, and Groton School, both of which he attended, while, and where, the abuse occurred."
In documents released to the press, the 13-count complaint includes not only the Pike and Groton School but also names the headmasters and other administrators, including football coaches, dorm heads, and teachers as defendants.
For his protection the plaintiff's identity was not revealed in the legal complaint. The complaint alleges that "starting in the early 1980s, and continuing at least through 1994, [she] engaged in sexual activity with minor students who attended the Pike School, and was a serial abuser." According to the complaint the alleged actual abuse by the female teacher of John Doe started at the Pike School in 1992-1993.
It further alleges that John Doe, after finishing at the Pike School, was accepted at Groton School on a full scholarship and that his abuser became involved in his life at Groton School, visiting him at the school and attending many of his sports games. According to the complaint, "After those games, defendant [she] would arrange for [him] to drive back in her car, instead of returning on the team bus with the other students, so she could have sexual contact with [him], in the car and at various public parking areas." He also alleges that they engaged in sexual relations in his dorm room.
The complaint alleges that Groton School "through the Groton Supervisory defendants' actions and inactions described herein, and through a pattern of deliberate indifference, created and permitted quid pro quo sexual harassment and a severe, pervasive and persistent sexually hostile educational environment which is in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972."
According to the documents received by the Groton Herald, the plaintiff seeks a full jury trial and "demands judgment against the defendants, on each Count, in an amount to be determined by a jury, as compensatory damages, and as punitive or exemplary damages where appropriate, plus costs, interest, and attorney's fees."
