2 Wilton Families File Suit Against Town, Schools for Alleged Sex Abuse of Preschool Kids

WILTON, CT — Two Wilton families have filed suit against the Town of Wilton and the Wilton Board of Education, alleging that former Wilton preschool paraprofessional Eric Von Kohorn sexually exploited their preschool children in 2013-14, while Von Kohorn worked at the Miller-Driscoll School, according to one of the family's attorneys.

Von Kohorn worked with preschool children in the Miller-Driscoll school since 2007, before he was arrested by Connecticut State Police on August 20, 2014, and charged with first-degree possession of child pornography and promoting a minor in an obscene performance; he later pled guilty to illegal possession of child pornography.

The families are both represented by Paul Slager and Michael Kennedy of Stamford’s Silver Golub & Teitell LLP. One family claims the teacher exploied their preschool boy while the same attorneys who represent the family of a female student whose parents sued the Town of Wilton and the Wilton Board of Education, alleging she was sexually assaulted by Von Kohorn in a Miller-Driscoll bathroom.

The new lawsuit presented by the preschool boy's family, alleges that Von Kohorn took the male student alone into a Miller-Driscoll school bathroom and photographed him in the bathroom stall while the child’s pants were down. The family is unaware what Von Kohorn did with the images or whether and where the images were distributed, which, according to the lawsuit, is a source of considerable distress for the family, their attorney said in a statement.

The complaint alleges, among other things, that:

(1) in January 2013, Wilton Board of Education staff members received a report from the parents of a female Miller-Driscoll preschool student – the student whose family brought the first lawsuit against Wilton related to Von Kohorn -- that she had reported being sexually assaulted by Von Kohorn in a school bathroom and that the parents had noticed visible injuries and irritation to her genital area (paragraph 8);

(2) during the school’s investigation, Von Kohorn initially denied taking the girl – who was fully toilet-trained – alone into the bathroom, and then, in a second interview, admitted he had lied during the first interview and that he actually had taken the girl alone into the bathroom, despite the fact she did not require assistance toileting (paragraphs 10-12);

(3) Miller Driscoll’s Director, Dr. Fred Rapczynski, notified the Human Resources department of the Wilton Board of Education of these facts after receiving the report from the parents and interviewing Von Kohorn (paragraphs 13-14);

(4) Dr. Rapczynski also reported the incidents to the Department of Child and Family Services (DCF), including the fact that his own investigation “did not support the girl’s claims,” after which DCF made Dr. Rapczynksi aware that the DCF would not be performing its own investigation into the matter based on Dr. Rapczynski’s report (paragraph 16);

(5) the Board of Education performed no further investigation of its own into the alleged sexual abuse of the female student and did not discipline, suspend or reprimand Von Kohorn in any way (paragraphs 15 and 17); and,

(6) the Board of Education instead removed Von Kohorn from the girl’s classroom and then placed him into another classroom where he continued to work directly with other Miller-Driscoll preschool students, including the male student in the current case (paragraph 18).
The complaint further alleges that the male student – the plaintiff in the current lawsuit – was a student in the preschool class to which Von Kohorn was reassigned, after Dr. Rapczynski and the Board of Education knew of the female student’s reports of sexual abuse (paragraph 20). After Von Kohorn began working in the boy’s classroom, the case states, Von Kohorn took the boy alone to the bathroom, where he photographed him with his pants down (paragraph 26).

The plaintiff does not specify the amount of damages sought in the case. The family’s attorney, Paul Slager, stated, “the allegations in the lawsuit speak for themselves” and declined further comment due to the sensitive nature of the case.

Related:

Family Sues Wilton Board of Ed Over Alleged Sex Abuse

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