Former Peabody Teacher Indicted On 4 Counts Of Child Rape

PEABODY, MA — An Essex County grand jury indicted a former Peabody teacher on four counts of child rape while she was on the staff at Peabody Memorial High School in 2000 and 2001.

Essex County District Court Spokesperson Carrie Kimball told Patch that Lynette Occhipinti was indicted on April 8 for conduct involving a boy who was 15 years old at the time.

Kimball said on Wednesday that an arraignment date had not been scheduled.

Patch previously reported the victim sued the city of Peabody and multiple teachers accused of being involved in the sexual assaults in federal court.

The former student, who was identified as John Doe in federal court documents, claims he was given drugs and alcohol and sexually abused by Occhipinti, a former educational assistant at the school, starting when he was a freshman at the school in 1999.

City and school officials declined comment when the lawsuit was filed in November 2019, but responded to the accusations in a February 2020 court filing in the civil case.

Occhipinti and David Montgomery, the other former teacher named in the federal lawsuit, have not responded to past requests for comment. In addition to Occhipinti, Montgomery and the city of Peabody, the complaint names as defendants 10 school staff members whose names the man says he does not remember.

The suit claims Occhipinti was assigned to tutor the victim, who suffered from anxiety and attention deficit disorder, for one hour every school day. The lawsuit claims that Occhipinti invited Doe and an older student she tutored to her Salem home to use her tanning bed.

The complaint goes on to claim that Occhipinti's then-husband, Robert, smoked marijuana and drank alcohol with the two boys. It claims Occhipinti then kissed the victim and told him she had "real feelings" for him before performing a sexual act on him.

By his senior year, Doe said in his complaint, he was using the drugs Occhipinti had introduced him to on a daily basis and that she provided him money to go buy drugs on his own.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

More Patch Coverage: Grand Jury Weighs Criminal Charges In Peabody High School Case

Ex-Peabody Teacher Gave Drugs To, Had Sex With Student: Lawsuit

Peabody Responds To Sex Abuse Accusations By Former Student