Staff Report
Editor’s Note: This article which ran in the Wednesday, Sept. 30, print edition of the Eagle Times has been updated to highlight the distinction that George Caccavaro was a paraeducator, not an educator.
CONCORD — The family of a Stevens High School student assaulted by her paraeducator is suing the Claremont School District and several of its personnel with claims that they violated her rights and failed to protect her.
In a civil suit filed Tuesday in United States District Court, Angela H. Leslie, the plaintiff, alleges that numerous school officials, including Stevens High School principal Patricia Barry and Stevens High School Life Skills program instructor Kelly Fontaine, were aware of former Claremont mayor George Caccavaro’s misconduct with a student. The suit names, in total, George Caccavaro, Patricia Barry, Kelly Fontaine, the Claremont School District, SAU #6, and 10 others presently unidentified as defendants.
On March 10, George Caccavaro, 79, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor accounts of simple assault, stemming from an incident in February 2019 when Caccavaro, while employed as a paraeducator in the Claremont School District, engaged a female student with disabilities in an inappropriate embrace during a off-campus outing. The student, who is only identified by the courts as “K.L.” was a 20-year-old student in Stevens High School’s Life Skills program, where Caccavaro worked as a classroom assistant. The Life Skills program teaches independent living skills to students with special needs.
On Aug. 10, George Caccavaro was sentenced in 5th Circuit Court in Newport to serve two months of a one-year sentence, with the remaining 10 months suspended, as part of a plea arrangement made in March between Caccavaro’s counsel and District Attorney Christine Hilliard.
In the suit against the school district, the plaintiff’s complaint alleges that Fontaine, along with other school officials, failed to pass along reports to guardians and police provided by staff that Caccavaro was “spending an inappropriate amount of time” with the student, which included “often bringing food and snacks” and “buying her lunch.” “Acting with deliberate indifference, no one at Stevens High School or CSD or SAU #6 ever informed K.L.’s guardian, her mother, or the police about this first sexual assault incident,” the complaint reads. “K.L.’s family first learned of this first sexual assault the following year when Caccavaro was arrested for his later acts.”
The complaint also alleges that Barry took inadequate measures when notified of a separate incident involving Caccavaro before the Christmas break in 2018, when Stevens High School teacher Fred Hill allegedly witnessed Caccavaro lean over K.L., who was seated, and kiss her on the forehead. According to the police affidavit, Barry said she directed Caccavaro to focus on students other than K.L.
The complaint alleges that despite multiple requests from K.L.’s family, the district has presented no documentation regarding the incident or follow-up action by the administration.
“A complete lack of documentation for this sexual assault is unacceptable and unlawful … [and] gives rise to the Plaintiff’s good faith allegation in the alternative that Patricia Barry in fact refused to intervene at all regarding this prior incident,” the complaint states.
In a statement issued by Attorney Anthony Carr of Shaheen & Gordon in accordance with K.L.’s mother, Crystal Currier, she reiterates the district’s inaction when it came to protecting and reporting the acts of misconduct to the appropriate parties.
“My daughter could not defend herself from this monster, yet the school allowed her to be his prey—even after they had received multiple reports about the things he was doing to her,” Currier said. “No one from the school told me or anyone in our family about any of this. Instead, they tried to cover everything up. It’s not right, so we’ve decided to do something about it—for my daughter, of course, but also for all the other kids in the Claremont School District so this never happens again.”
Carr also added his input in the statement saying that Caccavaro is just one of many individuals that need to be held responsible for what occurred.
“George Caccavaro only had to spend 30 days in jail for grooming and sexually abusing a disabled female student over a period of several months. The other defendants have yet to face any accountability,” Carr said. “Conversely, my client is left to deal with this for the rest of her life. The family’s fight for justice and transparency is only just beginning.”
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