Ex-Cohasset teacher arraigned on new child abuse charges

Nov. 29--QUINCY -- A former Cohasset Middle School teacher remains free as he faces a second set of child molestation charges involving a former student.

Jeffrey E. Knight, 57, of Pembroke, was arraigned Wednesday in Quincy District Court on five new counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, which come on top of four indecent assault charges Knight was already facing. The former science and math teacher was released on his promise to return to court Jan. 30 and ordered to stay away from Cohasset Middle School.

Knight, a veteran teacher of more than 30 years, was initially arraigned Sept. 20 after police learned that a student had told school staff that Knight had repeatedly molested her. Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said Tuesday that a second student and her mother later came forward after reading a news article about the allegations.

The second student, now a high school junior, told police that Knight had pressed himself into her and grabbed her inappropriately several times between 2014 and 2015, according to a police report filed in court. She said several of the incidents occurred while she was using equipment in his class.

The student told police she spoke to a counselor about the allegations on Sept. 21, the day after Knight was arraigned on the initial set of charges, according to the police report. Police said the second student told her mother about the allegations three days later and they both went to the police.

Cohasset school officials offered a different account at a school committee meeting Wednesday night, saying the student contacted police first.

Knight was put on administrative leave in May and has since resigned, according to Cohasset Public Schools Superintendent Louise Demas. He appeared in court Wednesday with his wife, Audrey, and son, U.S.Marine Corps Sgt. Craig Knight, who came in full uniform. About a dozen other supporters joined them.

Knight's lawyer, Eric Goldman, didn't address the new charges in court, but tried to sow doubt about the prosecutors' case on the prior charges. He said police have not found anyone else who saw the alleged assaults, even through they happened in a school, where other students would likely have seen them.

"As far as we know there are no witnesses," Goldman said.

Goldman said that a grand jury reviewed the evidence in the first case and chose not to indict Knight, which would have have moved his case to superior court, where defendants face longer sentences if convicted. Grand jury proceedings in Massachusetts are typically kept secret.

Speaking outside of the court, Goldman said there was nothing to corroborate the first victim's story.

"It's extremely difficult because it's he said, she said," Goldman said. "It's very embarrassing for his family."

Cohasset Public School's handling of the allegations has drawn sharp criticism from the town's parents.

The first student told middle school administrators in February that Knight had touched her several times in a sexual manner, but the school did not tell authorities about the allegations until May. After a police officer stationed at the school learned about the allegations, Cohasset police began an investigation into the alleged abuse and notified the Department of Children and Families and the Norfolk County Advocates for Children, a public-private partnership formed to help children who face abuse.

In a heated September meeting, parents demanded to know why the school took months to tell police and criticized the school's lack of communication about the allegations. Some parents called for Demas's ouster.

Cohasset Middle-High School Principal Carolyn Connolly was put on administrative leave over her handling of the information the day of the meeting.

School teachers and educational administrators are required by law to report any allegations of abuse against children to the state Department of Children and Families within 48 hours of learning about them. They are considered "mandated reporters."

Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said that his department and the Norfolk County District Attorney's office are still investigating the allegations and how the school administration handled them. In a statement Tuesday, Demas said she has cooperated with police and the district attorney's office throughout the investigation.

"I am shocked and profoundly disturbed by the allegations against Knight," Demas said. "I emphatically support any student who comes forward, and it is my sincere hope that any member of our school community feels comfortable reporting something that they feel is not right."

Knight had worked at the Cohasset Middle School as a science, technology, engineering and mathematics teacher since August 2011. He had been a teacher for over 30 years.

Demas said that the Cohasset School Department was conducting a Title IX investigation into the allegations against Knight. Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex -- including sexual harassment and violence -- in schools receiving federal funding.

Demas said in September that an outside firm, Ryan Strategies, was hired to examine the allegations and the school department's response.

Knight has been ordered to stay away from Cohasset-Middle High School and the alleged victims. He was also ordered not to work or volunteer with children under 16 and must stay in the state except to visit his parents in Maine.

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