Village Catholic School Teacher Accused Of Raping Student: Suit

WEST VILLAGE, NY — A middle schooler with Asperger's syndrome was repeatedly raped by a teacher at a West Village Catholic school, a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court claims.

The family of the seventh grade boy, who is now 19-years-old, has anonymously sued Our Lady of Pompeii School on Bleecker Street and teacher Arne Mattsson, alleging that the child was sexually abused over the course of two months beginning in February 2013.

The middle schooler joined an after-school program in October 2012 where students were assigned as aides to teachers two days a week. The mother of the then 13-year-old told the New York Post that her son was assigned to Mattsson who quickly grew close and "groomed" him over the next few months.

In an affidavit obtained by The Post, the woman's son said, “The teacher forced himself on me. At first, he made me touch his genitals with my hand and my mouth. Over the course of time, his actions escalated to rape. This continued until the end of the school year in May 2013.”

The family is confronting the abuse after years of therapy allowed the teen's trauma to resurface, according to court filings.

After she learned of the abuse, his mother approached the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which promptly opened an investigation into the claims, she told The Post.

Mattsson's lawyer, Andrew Bernstein, told the newspaper that prosecutors closed the case on the teacher and that Our Lady of Pompeii School has allowed him to return to the classroom last school year.

“The allegation against Mr. Matt­sson is completely false, and he is absolutely innocent,” Bernstein told the paper.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office and Our Lady of Pompeii School did not immediately return requests for comment.

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