Sexual abuse lawsuit against CTC, several school districts can proceed

Nov. 30--A federal judge dismissed portions of eight lawsuits filed against several local school districts and a vocational technical school accused of failing to protect students from a former teacher who sexually abused them.

U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion said the students can proceed with several counts that allege school officials knew Richard Humphrey, a former teacher at the Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County, was abusing them, but failed to act. He dismissed three other counts, including claims that officials retaliated against the students for reporting the abuse and failed to provide them counseling.

The students, who are represented by several attorneys, filed the lawsuits in June in Lackawanna County Court against the CTC and the Scranton, Lakeland, Mid Valley and Valley View school districts, which sent students to the CTC. The cases were later transferred to federal court.

The cases stem from a criminal investigation that began in May 2017, after allegations against Humphrey were made to ChildLine, a statewide hotline to report suspected child abuse.

Humphrey pleaded guilty in January 2018 to 11 counts of indecent assault and one count of corruption of minors and was sentenced to 11 to 33 months in Lackawanna County Prison.

Attorneys for the school districts and CTC sought dismissal of the lawsuits, arguing there is insufficient evidence to support claims officials knew about Humphrey's conduct prior to the ChildLine report. Once they learned of it, they acted appropriately and immediately suspended him.

Mannion agreed school officials acted promptly to remove Humphrey after the investigation began. He said it is too early in the litigation to determine if they were negligent for not discovering and acting on the abuse allegations prior to then, however.

The judge noted the lawsuits allege Humphrey's conduct, which included claims he groped students' genitals, was pervasive and well known among students and staff. That's an issue that must be further investigated in pretrial interviews and evidence gathering before a ruling can be made, he said.

Mannion dismissed claims that allege the districts and CTC failed to provide counseling for the students after the abuse was discovered, finding that the law does not require them to do so.

He also dismissed claims school officials retaliated against the students in various ways, including reprimanding them to trivial matters. Even if the districts engaged in the conduct, it is not egregious enough to meet the legal standard to recover damages, he said.

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter

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