Post by SyZyGy on Jun 18, 2005 14:24:21 GMT -5
Names have been changed to protect the innocent, the guilty, the alleged victim and the alleged perpetrator, since such matters are not suitable for the sensitivities of our gentle community.
Officials Face Ethics Complaint
By MaryEllen Fillo
Courant Staff Writer
(c) 2005 The Hartford Courant
June 17 2005
WETHERSFIELD -- A local woman, claiming she was assaulted nearly 30 years ago by a former town recreation department employee, has filed an ethics complaint against two town officials she says enabled the man to resume working here in 2003, putting town residents at risk.
E**** F**** has charged that the two officials, M**** S*****, a parks and recreation supervisor, and Town Manager Bonnie Therrien, violated the town's ethics code by allowing the alleged attacker, J**** P*******, to teach two Red Cross classes sponsored by the town in April 2003.
The board of ethics has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday at 7 p.m. (Sy: June 21, graduation day!) at town hall to consider F****'s complaint.
In a lawsuit filed against P******* and the town in 2002, F****, 44, charged that P******* s*xually assaulted her in 1976, when she was a teenager and he was her tennis coach in a recreation department program. Before filing the civil suit, F**** went to police and told them that P******* forced her to engage in or*l s*x with him. Police did not file criminal charges because the statute of limitations had expired, F**** said.
F****, however, asked that the town no longer allow P******* to teach classes in town and that P*******'s employer at the time, the town of East Windsor, be advised of the allegations against him. She also asked that P*******'s former employer, the town of Berlin, as well as state authorities, be advised of his alleged conduct so that no other children would be put at risk. She also asked that the town begin negotiating a settlement with her.
According to the complaint, officials told S***** not to allow P******* to teach classes in Wethersfield again.
P******* had worked as director of Berlin's community center but was forced from the job following a drug possession arrest. He served as a part-time parks and recreation director in East Windsor from 1996 until 2002. He resigned a few months after F****'s complaint against him since he was not chosen for a new full-time recreation post there, according to comments he made during a deposition in July 2003.
P*******, who lives in New Britain, could not be reached for comment.
The civil case has been dragging since it was filed, in part, because of confusion over whether P******* was a town employee or was a contract worker hired through S*****'s personal consulting business.
Although S***** was told by town officials not to hire P******* again, S***** hired him to teach town-sponsored American Red Cross classes in spring 2003, according to documents from the court case. F**** is claiming that move breached a town ethics code and a provision that prevents town employees from doing business with the town.
She contends further that Therrien and other town officials have "been scrambling" to cover up exactly who hired P******* and the exact nature of his employment status with the town, actions F**** said are in violation of the town ethics code.
S***** did not return calls requesting comment.
F**** said Wednesday she was not sure why she waited so long to file the ethics complaint but said she has been more and more bothered by what she believes is the town's escalating cover-up of the matter.
"It's snowballing out of control," said F****.
Therrien said she had responded to F****'s charges in a letter written to the ethics board and would not comment further on them. At its meeting Tuesday, the five-member ethics board will review the letter. After reviewing materials related to the allegations, the board will decide if the complaint merits further investigation, according to Robert Hirtle, the lawyer who heads the ethics board. If the board decides the complaint is valid, a hearing will be scheduled.
Officials Face Ethics Complaint
By MaryEllen Fillo
Courant Staff Writer
(c) 2005 The Hartford Courant
June 17 2005
WETHERSFIELD -- A local woman, claiming she was assaulted nearly 30 years ago by a former town recreation department employee, has filed an ethics complaint against two town officials she says enabled the man to resume working here in 2003, putting town residents at risk.
E**** F**** has charged that the two officials, M**** S*****, a parks and recreation supervisor, and Town Manager Bonnie Therrien, violated the town's ethics code by allowing the alleged attacker, J**** P*******, to teach two Red Cross classes sponsored by the town in April 2003.
The board of ethics has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday at 7 p.m. (Sy: June 21, graduation day!) at town hall to consider F****'s complaint.
In a lawsuit filed against P******* and the town in 2002, F****, 44, charged that P******* s*xually assaulted her in 1976, when she was a teenager and he was her tennis coach in a recreation department program. Before filing the civil suit, F**** went to police and told them that P******* forced her to engage in or*l s*x with him. Police did not file criminal charges because the statute of limitations had expired, F**** said.
F****, however, asked that the town no longer allow P******* to teach classes in town and that P*******'s employer at the time, the town of East Windsor, be advised of the allegations against him. She also asked that P*******'s former employer, the town of Berlin, as well as state authorities, be advised of his alleged conduct so that no other children would be put at risk. She also asked that the town begin negotiating a settlement with her.
According to the complaint, officials told S***** not to allow P******* to teach classes in Wethersfield again.
P******* had worked as director of Berlin's community center but was forced from the job following a drug possession arrest. He served as a part-time parks and recreation director in East Windsor from 1996 until 2002. He resigned a few months after F****'s complaint against him since he was not chosen for a new full-time recreation post there, according to comments he made during a deposition in July 2003.
P*******, who lives in New Britain, could not be reached for comment.
The civil case has been dragging since it was filed, in part, because of confusion over whether P******* was a town employee or was a contract worker hired through S*****'s personal consulting business.
Although S***** was told by town officials not to hire P******* again, S***** hired him to teach town-sponsored American Red Cross classes in spring 2003, according to documents from the court case. F**** is claiming that move breached a town ethics code and a provision that prevents town employees from doing business with the town.
She contends further that Therrien and other town officials have "been scrambling" to cover up exactly who hired P******* and the exact nature of his employment status with the town, actions F**** said are in violation of the town ethics code.
S***** did not return calls requesting comment.
F**** said Wednesday she was not sure why she waited so long to file the ethics complaint but said she has been more and more bothered by what she believes is the town's escalating cover-up of the matter.
"It's snowballing out of control," said F****.
Therrien said she had responded to F****'s charges in a letter written to the ethics board and would not comment further on them. At its meeting Tuesday, the five-member ethics board will review the letter. After reviewing materials related to the allegations, the board will decide if the complaint merits further investigation, according to Robert Hirtle, the lawyer who heads the ethics board. If the board decides the complaint is valid, a hearing will be scheduled.
