蜜桃影视

This article was published in partnership with .

Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse.

Going to high school in Dutchess County, New York, in the 1960s, there was no late bus. For one star athlete at Our Lady of Lourdes High School, that meant regularly hitchhiking the 25 miles between school and home after practice.

It was during those lonely treks, he said, that his new coach and gym teacher, Vincent Dutkowski, would stalk him in his car, offering to give him a ride, trying to coax him back to his apartment. By this point, Dutkowski had already sexually molested him multiple times, he said, grabbing his buttocks and his testicles in pickup basketball games in the school gym, plucking out his pubic hair. A few times, when he was alone with Dutkowski in his office, the coach would pull down his gym shorts and his jock strap and fondle him. 

鈥淚鈥檇 be walking down Market Street in Poughkeepsie and he鈥檇 pull up next to me,鈥� the man, in his 70s, told 蜜桃影视 in March, asking not to be identified because of the sensitive nature of his story. 鈥淗e called me Irish. 鈥業rish. Get in the car.鈥� And I’m a 17-year-old kid trying to maintain my varsity status, starting status, and he’s the coach. Also he is 鈥� was 鈥� 6鈥�3鈥�, 240 pounds. At the time, I’m barely 6 feet and 160. So he鈥檚 a huge man.鈥�

Once trapped in the car, he said, Dutkowski鈥檚 hands were everywhere, groping his genitals through his clothes and 鈥渢alking all sorts of really filthy sexual talk.鈥� The young athlete started altering his route home, taking different downtown streets so his coach wouldn鈥檛 find him. But sometimes he did. 

The last ride he took, he said, Dutkowski turned left toward his own apartment instead of right toward the bridge and flipped open his coat to expose his penis. The student yelled at the 36-year-old man to stop the car and let him out and he scrambled away. 

After that, he said Dutkowski benched him, even though it was his senior year and he had started every game of his high school career. He was humiliated and couldn鈥檛 understand why no other adult ever asked him what happened. When he tried to quit the basketball team, he said, the coach told him he wasn鈥檛 going to play him but if he stayed, 鈥淚鈥檒l leave you alone and you can pitch (baseball) in the spring time 鈥� and we keep this between the two of us.鈥�

That鈥檚 where it sat for 39 years until the alleged victim, by then a successful lawyer and civil litigator, decided to confront it. He said he deposed himself for two hours on videotape and sent a verified statement to the Archdiocese of New York and Our Lady of Lourdes. It was 2004 and he got a letter back from the archdiocese鈥檚 general counsel telling him the statute of limitations had run out on his complaint. 

It was too late.

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An 鈥業nsane鈥� Number of Cases 

In 2019, New York state passed the Child Victims Act, which allowed any living survivor of childhood sexual abuse to bring a civil case during a two-year lookback window and permanently extended the statute of limitations from age 23 to 55 for future civil cases.

That opening resulted in 10,787 cases being filed by 14,592 plaintiffs. Among them is the former Our Lady of Lourdes student, one of at least five who named Coach Dutkowski, a who died in 2012 , as their abuser.  

Elements of the complaints against Dutkowski 鈥� an alleged serial predator who moved among schools, using his power and authority to coerce and silence his victims 鈥� run throughout the Child Victims Act cases. To understand the full scope of the role schools played in those nearly 11,000 lawsuits, 蜜桃影视 searched all 62 New York counties and combed through thousands of court documents, identifying at least 1,973 complaints that accuse a school, educator or other district personnel.

That means that more than 18% of all the New York state cases 鈥� or nearly 1 in 5 鈥� attest that a child was sexually abused, assaulted or raped by an adult who had access to them through their school. 

In many counties, that share was even higher: In Suffolk County, for example, 36% of all cases involved schools and in the Bronx, nearly 40%. And in Franklin County, on New York鈥檚 far northern border, survivors in an overwhelming 75% of the CVA cases filed accused school employees of abuse.

The numbers from 蜜桃影视鈥檚 analysis are considerably higher than the 13.4% of cases attributed to K-12 schools in a more narrowly focused review of the New York Child Victims Act cases done by the advocacy organization . They also provide greater context to the frequently cited estimate that 1 in 10 K-12 students will be subject to sexual misconduct by an adult by the time they graduate, according to a and mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 an insane number for one period of time where a window was open,鈥� said Kathryn Robb, director of the Children’s Justice Campaign at the advocacy organization 鈥淎nd how many possibly couldn鈥檛 file after the window had closed.鈥�

Robb, who spent over a decade helping to draft and pass the New York bill, added that because so few survivors ultimately report their abuse, the tally of school-based complaints is likely a significant undercount. But the number who did come forward, she said, 鈥渁llows a justified alarm to be sound[ed] for both the public 鈥� parents, grandparents, people, guardians 鈥� and also our lawmakers and leaders.鈥�

蜜桃影视’s investigation reveals the sheer magnitude of cases involving New York educators although the vast majority of teachers, administrators and school personnel do not sexually harm the children in their care. At the same time, the cases present a rare level of visibility for the former students whose pain and trauma went unrecognized when they were young.

By delving into scores of cases, 蜜桃影视 was also able to glean what it is about schools themselves 鈥� their physical structure, their institutional practices, the dynamics among the adults who work there 鈥� that contributes to children being preyed upon, year after year and decade after decade, in a place where they are legally required to be.

The alleged abusers in these cases held an array of roles across all types of schools 鈥� public, private, residential and religious. The accused were classroom and special education teachers, bus drivers, school psychologists, priests, maintenance workers, coaches, principals, school doctors and occupational therapists. Victims ranged from pre-schoolers in a in New York’s Catskill Mountains to on Long Island.

In the most egregious cases, alleged perpetrators assaulted students for decades, amassing hundreds of victims. Multiple teachers were credibly accused of sexual abuse in one school, and then permitted to quietly move on to a new one.  

鈥淗e crawled into your life. He got complete trust.鈥�

鈥� One survivor describing his alleged abuser.

The abuse detailed in the complaints spanned nearly 70 years, with some reported incidents dating as far back as the 1950s and others as recently as 2018. In many cases, school leaders had reportedly been told of previous or ongoing abuse and turned a blind eye, allowing it to continue unchecked, 蜜桃影视 found. 

Numerous students alleged their teachers facilitated their abuse by allowing their adult perpetrators to regularly pull them out of class and take them to a private office, empty classroom or other secluded area in the school where they were sexually assaulted. 

Complaint after complaint describes how the physical abuse came after periods of grooming, some that lasted years. This included encouraging students to stay back after school for extra help, offering rides home and finding ways to get enmeshed in young people鈥檚 personal relationships 鈥�  鈥淗e crawled into your life. He got complete trust,鈥� one survivor told 蜜桃影视 of his alleged abuser.

In extreme cases, the students either babysat for or lived with their abusive teacher or principal.

All the complaints state that the victims suffered lasting harm from what they endured as children. A key underpinning of the Child Victims Act is that those who are subjected to sexual abuse at a young age are often unable to speak of it publicly until well into adulthood and long after the civil statute of limitations would have lapsed. 

鈥淭he number one (pattern) is that they all feel it was their fault. That they feel guilt. That they feel that they caused this. They feel they can鈥檛 trust anyone in authority,鈥� said attorney Cynthia LaFave, who is handling some 470 Child Victims Act cases in partnership with the firm Jeff Anderson & Associates. 鈥淚t has given them so much depression, anxiety. A lot of them now have substance abuse disorders because that鈥檚 their way of escaping it.鈥�

The former Our Lady of Lourdes student, a grandfather of five, passed away in late August without seeing his case resolved. He told 蜜桃影视 earlier this year that he had yet to share what happened to him in high school with his adult sons and the way he told his wife was to have her watch his self-made deposition. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traced addiction issues he developed in his 40s to his teenage years.

鈥淪omewhere along there, towards the 1990s, I became an alcoholic and that affects your marriage, your kids and my job,” he said. “(The abuse) was the impetus. If I was on the edge of a cliff, genetically or whatever, those events pushed me off to become an alcoholic.鈥�

The New York archdiocese declined to comment on the allegations against Our Lady of Lourdes or Dutkowski. The coach’s accuser did note that the church offered to pay for therapy sessions after he first notified them of his complaint in 2004.

At least have passed similar lookback windows or age limit revival laws for child sexual abuse claims in the last 20 years, including California and West Virginia. But New York, which is now looking to against school-based child sexual abuse, has produced by far the greatest number of cases. Seven years later, the vast majority still await resolution. 

Of the 10,787 CVA cases filed in New York courts, roughly 8,000 had progressed beyond the initial filing as of February 2026. Of those, just under 3,000 had been settled or otherwise disposed of, leaving nearly 63% still pending, according to 蜜桃影视鈥檚 analysis of public records obtained from the New York State Office of Court Administration. That means victims, who may now be in their 60s or 70s and have waited most of their lives to seek justice, are still waiting.

Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and Child USA鈥檚 founder, sees great value in the civil cases. They get at not just the alleged perpetrator, she said, but the institutions, like schools, that protect the abuser and their own reputations. That creates an opportunity to change a deep-seated culture of secrecy and self-preservation.

鈥淲hat we’re trying to do with these windows is catch up: catch up to all those victims that were abused and were given no access to justice,” she said. “But the real goal is to make sure it doesn’t happen again, so that we’re not just seeing a wave of thousands of lawsuits, (one) after another.鈥�

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鈥榃here鈥檚 the Justice?鈥�

James Marsh is a leading attorney in child sex abuse cases whose clients include survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. His Manhattan-based Marsh Law Firm has represented roughly 1,000 of the Child Victims Act plaintiffs.

鈥淭he fact that there were so many cases in so many different places really illustrates the scope of this problem, both historically and ongoing,鈥� Marsh told 蜜桃影视, referring specifically to school-based abuse. 鈥淭his is a problem that has not gone away.鈥�

In July, the what it called 鈥渁 national K-12 initiative to crack down on sexual predators in schools,鈥� citing instances where schools failed to investigate credible reports of abuse or allowed accused perpetrators to change roles or transfer schools. The administration, which recently  that investigates sexual abuse claims, said it was targeting 20 districts it suspected of falling short. None are in New York.

The 1,973 CVA cases involving New York schools were spread over 54 counties with the largest number in Manhattan, or New York County, with 345; the Bronx with 256 and Brooklyn, or Kings County, with 227. 

When looking at all the CVA cases, the highest volume can be found in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Nassau counties. Those places also have among the most cases that were still unresolved. Nearly 80% of all complaints that were at one point active in Brooklyn were still pending, as were 79% of those in Manhattan and three-quarters of those in the Bronx, according to 蜜桃影视鈥檚 analysis.

The exception is Nassau County on Long Island where the courts have cleared more cases than anywhere else in the state, resolving 606 of 681 cases, leaving just 11% still pending. Over 100 of the Child Victims Act cases brought in Nassau name schools.

Attorneys and advocates say the long delays are due to a backlog created by the pandemic, a dearth of judges, battles between defendants and their insurance companies over who is liable for payment and an otherwise overwhelmed court system.

That’s of little comfort to Bob Druger, who first filed his case against the Syracuse City School District in 2019, alleging years of abuse by a counselor and track coach nearly 40 years earlier. Over the past seven years, he said, his case has dragged on, cycling through numerous judges. 

He gave the first part of his own deposition 鈥� a grueling process for many survivors 鈥� two years ago, and is still waiting to complete that critical pre-trial step.

鈥淚鈥檓 so disappointed in the legal system,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey made these laws to get some kind of justice 鈥� whatever that is 鈥� but where鈥檚 the justice? 

Druger’s case is one of 26 school-based complaints filed under the Child Victims Act in Central New York鈥檚 Onondaga County. Of the 163 total number of cases that had moved forward there by February 2026, 74% remained outstanding. 

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Serial Predators and Serially Abusive Schools

Rudy Tremaroli first ran a church- and school-affiliated community center in the 1960s and then moved over to Mount Carmel school where he was given a private office and worked as a janitor and basketball coach. 

Tremaroli is accused of abusing hundreds of children over three decades. Several of the CVA complaints describe him as “one of the most prolific pedophiles in the history of the Archdiocese of New York.” 

Other court documents recount: “In the middle to late 1980s, in an effort to convince a victim that his repeated sexual assaults were appropriate, Tremaroli bragged that he had seen the penises of most of the male students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School for the past thirty (30) years.”

In his various roles, he would allegedly befriend and groom students who were using the gym before and after school and on weekends, ask them about their interest in girls, isolate them from their peers and sexually assault and abuse them. The abuse ranged from groping and kissing to forcing children to perform oral sex and sodomizing them with a cigar holder, a sports trophy and a screwdriver handle, according to court records. It took place on school and church grounds, at the community center and at Tremaroli鈥檚 home. 

He also forced his victims to pose for naked photos, creating a substantial collection of child pornography, which the complaints allege church officials removed from Tremaroli’s apartment after his death. He was later accused of distributing the images to Mount Carmel鈥檚 principal, James Irwin, who allegedly helped Tremaroli photograph his victims.  In the CVA cases, Irwin is accused of , a second grader in 1991. He was arrested in 2000 in Westchester County and criminally charged with seven felony counts of promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child. He later pleaded guilty, .

allege that both the school and the New York archdiocese were aware of Tremaroli鈥檚 ongoing abuse, yet they did nothing to stop it. The complaints say Tremaroli鈥檚 鈥渞eign of terror鈥� did not end until his death in 1992. Lawyers for Mount Carmel and the archdiocese denied any wrongdoing in their court filings.

The archdiocese declined to comment on the Tremaroli cases for this story. The sprawling entity, which encompasses Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and seven counties north of New York City, in May offered to to settle claims filed by 1,300 survivors under the Child Victims Act.

Accused serial abusers like Tremaroli can be found across all types of schools in the CVA cases.  According to court records, they include:

, a fifth-grade teacher in Erie County鈥檚 Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda Union Free School District, who was named in 35 Child Victim Acts cases, accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of boys from 1962 until 1992. Werner鈥檚 behavior was allegedly so bold that his 11- and 12-year-old victims said they and their classmates had to 鈥渞egularly and repeatedly鈥� watch as he assaulted boys in the classroom. At least one survivor recounted another teacher walking into the room, seeing him being fondled by Werner and walking out. Without the benefit of insurance money, the district paid to settle the cases in 2022, borrowing $10 million of that sum. It acknowledged that the alleged misconduct by Werner, who  at age 91, 鈥渋s reprehensible 鈥� both now and back then.鈥� They said multiple administrators from 30 years ago testified that if they had known about their colleague鈥檚 alleged abuse, they would have acted. A district spokesperson told 蜜桃影视 no witnesses could identify evidence that the district was notified about Werner鈥檚 alleged misconduct prior to the CVA lawsuits being filed and it was a 鈥渂usiness decision鈥� to settle given the 鈥渆xtreme costs鈥� of facing 35 separate trials. Chris O鈥橞rien, the plaintiffs鈥� attorney, said a former PTA mom gave a sworn deposition where she recounted that the teacher had molested her 11-year-old son and being assured by him that it wouldn鈥檛 happen again. The principal died in 2015, according to The Buffalo News.

 a child psychologist at a New Hyde Park middle and high school on Long Island whose sexual behavior toward students was so blatant that both kids and teachers openly referred to him as 鈥淔esta the Molester.鈥� More than 20 former male students brought cases naming Festa and the Herricks Union Free School District and multiple complaints assert that in 1978, 鈥�79 and 鈥�81, students and parents separately reported sexual abuse and assault by Festa to school administrators, but nothing was done. Festa remained in his job for a dozen years, allegedly abusing multiple students, until his 1993 arrest and indictment in a separate case involving 11 child sex-abuse charges. Festa, who died in 2011, pleaded guilty to three counts of sodomy. The district, which denied any wrongdoing in court filings, declined to comment on the Child Victims Act allegations.  

, a third-grade teacher, was the subject of 44 complaints filed against him in Islip鈥檚 Bay Shore Union Free School District. Bernagozzi is accused of abusing male students in the classroom and when he would take them on outings to baseball games, local beaches and Broadway shows. In February, he was convicted in a separate criminal case of sexually assaulting three former students, with the Suffolk County district attorney as 鈥渙ne of the most prolific serial pedophiles of our time.鈥� In May, the 77-year-old Bernagozzi was sentenced to in prison. As of January 2025, the Bay Shore district had paid out just over $55 million to settle 17 of the CVA cases naming the former longtime teacher. It has since settled an additional 24 cases for an undisclosed amount, according to the plaintiffs鈥� attorneys. A case that went to trial resulted in a $25 million verdict against the district in November 2024. In March 2025, ; his ruling is currently being appealed. 

Bernagozzi is one of a number of predatory teachers accused of leveraging his charisma and connections to garner a reputation among families as 鈥渢he teacher to get,鈥� as one victim, L.J., recently described him to 蜜桃影视.

L.J., who had Bernagozzi as a teacher in the mid-1980s, requested to be identified only by his initials, saying his children don鈥檛 know what happened to him as a boy. L.J. recalled his initial excitement to learn he鈥檇 be in Bernagozzi鈥檚 third-grade class and 鈥渧ery quickly (being) made the teacher鈥檚 pet.鈥� His seat was at the front of the room 鈥� directly in front of Bernagozzi, sometimes even sitting on his lap 鈥� and he gained special privileges not bestowed on other students.

鈥淚 swear to God, I still am getting chills right now, that there were multiple victims after me 鈥� after they knew,鈥�

L.J., survivor

Swiftly smaller boundary crossings escalated into full-blown sexual abuse, he said, both in the school building and on outings Bernagozzi would plan for L.J. and other boys. He would also put on plays that required the boys in his class to wear tights, and 鈥渄uring lunch break or after school he would put the tights on you,鈥� L.J. said. 鈥淗e kept baby powder with him. So he powdered you up, skin-to-skin, and let his fingers go wherever.鈥� 

After one particularly traumatizing encounter, L.J. said he reported the abuse to his mom, who promptly went to the school to confront both the principal and Bernagozzi. L.J.鈥檚 mom gave a sworn deposition and also testified about those conversations with Bernagozzi and the principal, who is now deceased, brought by another Child Victims Act plaintiff against Bay Shore schools.

After his mother took action, L.J. said the physical abuse stopped immediately, but Bernagozzi was not fired and he had to remain in the man鈥檚 class for the rest of the year. The report also came at a cost: He said Bernagozzi cornered him in a hallway, grabbed him and 鈥減ut the fear of God into me,鈥� asking, 鈥淲hat did you say? Who did you tell?鈥� His doting affection disappeared.

鈥淚 was no longer the fair child I was earlier. I was moved away from his desk. No attention,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t went from having access to a candy drawer and marking your own papers to being completely ignored and isolated.鈥�

L.J.鈥檚 reaction to this shift as a small boy has led to lasting shame and confusion: 鈥淚 almost craved his attention 鈥� all the attention, whether it be the abuse and everything else 鈥� when he shunned me. I would try to rub his back and all this stuff. That fucked me up for a while, just in my own head,鈥� said the now-lawyer, who recalls decades spent self-sabotaging and questioning his worth.

Today, he describes his school鈥檚 action as 鈥渢he exact playbook of what not to do,鈥� saying it facilitated and enabled not only his abuse, but that of dozens of other boys. 

鈥淚 swear to God, I still am getting chills right now, that there were multiple victims after me 鈥� after they knew,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then I found out that other people before me had told them, and some teachers or (the) principal had said something. And that, to me, is evil.鈥�

Neither the Bay Shore school district nor its attorney responded to requests for comment. 

Bernagozzi鈥檚 criminal attorney, Steve Politi, told 蜜桃影视 that his client 鈥渧ehemently denies ever doing anything sexually inappropriate to anyone ever. So that covers anyone who is saying anything from any time period 鈥� That includes males, females, adults, children, everyone. He鈥檚 never done that in his whole life.鈥�

When asked about Bernagozzi鈥檚 recent conviction on five charges, including sodomy and sexual conduct against a child, Politi said 鈥渁n appeal will be starting immediately,鈥� because the trial was 鈥渦nfair.鈥� He said his client was deprived of his right to a fair trial, including 鈥渁 distortion of the evidence and horrific rulings by the court.鈥�

The Child Victims Act cases reveal instances where a single individual, like Bernagozzi, is at the center of the alleged sexual abuse for many years and others where the alleged abusers change over time, but the school remains the constant factor across decades. 

This is especially true of residential schools where the abuse seems endemic to the institutions where it allegedly occurred. 蜜桃影视 found over 200 CVA cases filed against residential treatment centers and facilities. These plaintiffs, sent there as children by social services, Family Court or their home districts to live and attend school, were highly vulnerable. Many were already traumatized, dealing with various disabilities or mental illnesses, while the adults who worked there had full control over their young lives. 

These cases include:

, founded in 1862 as a boarding school for troubled children, operated a therapeutic residence and a special education school on its New Windsor campus until it was shut down by the state Education Department in 2009. The state found an ongoing host of safety and educational violations that it deemed In 2007, the institution came under fire when two female staffers were arrested on charges of raping two 16-year-old male students.  One of the women pleaded guilty to statutory rape and was sentenced to three months in jail, while the other was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and sentenced to a year in jail.  While the CVA complaints maintain such alleged acts were part of a decades-long pattern, McQuade鈥檚 then-CEO told a local newspaper he thought it was the .  McQuade has since been named in at least 11 Child Victims Act cases with allegations of sexual abuse involving multiple staffers spanning from the 1960s to the 1990s. 

, founded in 1854 by the De La Salle Christian Brothers as a place for 鈥渙rphaned and abandoned boys,鈥� is named in at least 34 complaints that spanned from 1950 to 2010. The victims, who ranged in age from 8 to 18, were sent to the Albany therapeutic residence and school by the courts as an alternative to juvenile detention or by social service agencies. Their alleged abusers were both male and female and comprised religious and lay staff members, including priests, brothers, counselors, teachers, adult head dorm prefects, a teacher鈥檚 aide and a coach. One became a trustee of the school and another was honored with a memorial service at LaSalle after his death in 2007. The school bills itself as offering 鈥渟pecialized treatment鈥� for families and youth dealing with trauma, including sexual abuse. 

, located on 180 acres in Westchester County, was founded in 1851 as the New York Juvenile Asylum to provide residential care to orphans and 鈥渄elinquents.鈥� It moved to a farm in where a was created to educate its at-risk, all-male population. Children鈥檚 Village is named in at least 52 CVA complaints, spanning from 1965 to 2009. The cases allege ingrained patterns of sexual assault and rape, where younger, weaker boys were preyed upon both by older students and adult staff in a ritual called 鈥減lucking.鈥� Many of the complaints attest that the victims told adult employees 鈥� counselors and teachers, among others 鈥� about the attacks, but that nothing was done. In at least one instance, a victim says he sought protection from an adult, who then started sexually abusing him as well. One lawyer whose client arrived at Children鈥檚 Villagedescribes the abuse he allegedly suffered there as occurring at 鈥渁 stunning scale over a period that amounted to pure torture.鈥�

Neither Children鈥檚 Village nor its attorney nor the lawyer representing McQuade Children鈥檚 Services responded to requests for comment. St. Christopher鈥檚, Inc., which also operated a residential treatment center and school in Westchester, took over McQuade and then filed for bankruptcy in 2024 in the face of . Children鈥檚 Village, which contracts with the Office of Refugee Resettlement , is also now for alleged mistreatment and physical abuse of these young people.

A LaSalle spokesperson pushed back against any assertion that students placed in its residential school were particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse, saying throughout its 172-year history LaSalle 鈥渉as not wavered from its core values and role as a refuge for troubled youth. It has offered care and support to tens of thousands of young people. It is well-known and respected in both local and national circles for its program and treatment of youth suffering from childhood trauma.鈥� 

He said the school did not become aware of any sexual assault allegations against its employees 鈥� including the staffer who went on to become a trustee or the one who had their memorial service at the school 鈥� until the CVA cases were filed many years later. 

Amos Guiora is a law professor at the University of Utah and director of the , which works to criminalize bystanders and enablers of abuse. He argues that in not directly responding to these alleged violations, schools and their employees actively empower those who do harm. 

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 address the ecosystem of enabling, not a damn thing will change,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he teachers know they can get away with it, because they know the school’s prioritization is not the child, but the school. The perpetrator is the indirect beneficiary.鈥�

Hamilton, of UPenn and Child USA, sees far-reaching reverberations when institutions place the adult first. 

鈥淲hen someone is identified, you’re potentially protecting 100 children,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o it’s not just this one important adult, it’s all the children 鈥� in the past, present and future.鈥�

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鈥楪rooming is a Process, Not an Act鈥�

In the fall of 1980, a Syracuse University graduate student named Conrad Mainwaring started coaching and counseling students at the local high school, a quick seven-minute drive from campus, according to

There, Mainwaring, a former Olympic track athlete for Antigua and Barbuda, began working with a 17-year-old Nottingham High School senior: Bob Druger, the plaintiff who has spent the last seven years awaiting a resolution to his Child Victims Act case.

As a swimmer and cross country runner, Druger, now 63, remembers his early excitement to work with Mainwaring, who he described as 鈥渧ery well-spoken and fast talking,鈥� with an English accent. Druger was impressed by his Olympic career and purported connections to other acclaimed athletes. If you wanted to be a star, Mainwaring told students, you had to work with him.

Mainwairing quickly “infiltrated” Druger鈥檚 friend group and life, he said, giving him books to read, telling him he was 鈥渘umber one in his squad, you鈥檙e above, you鈥檙e different from other people,鈥� and even attending family dinners at his house, including with his father, who taught biology at Syracuse for 50 years.

鈥淟ooking back at the amount of energy and time he put into me 鈥� I don鈥檛 know how he could do anything else,鈥� Druger said, recognizing the groundwork that was being laid for his abuse.

Quickly, the interactions turned sexual 鈥� both in the counselor鈥檚 office at the high school and back at Mainwaring鈥檚 Syracuse dorm room. The 29-year-old would tell Druger it was all part of his training to build mental fortitude and ultimately help him succeed as an athlete. 

鈥淗e just kind of put a spell on you, and made you believe.鈥�

Bob Druger

Sometimes, the abuse would occur 鈥渋n the middle of the school day in the office, giving me a blow job and hypnotizing you to make you think it鈥檚 OK,鈥� said Druger. 鈥淢asturbating you or whatever.鈥�

Druger describes the sexual assaults as 鈥渁lmost mechanical.鈥� While Mainwaring was abusing Druger, he鈥檇 talk to him, telling him the acts would 鈥減ush you to uncomfortable situations and the more you can tolerate it mentally, you can use that for your 鈥� sport,鈥� he said.

The manipulation was so powerful that for years, Druger said he didn鈥檛 realize that what happened to him was abuse. Until recently, when he connected with other survivors and identified his experience as assault, he hadn鈥檛 told a soul about it 鈥� not even his wife. Coming to terms with the reality, he said, has meant his 鈥渨hole world is sort of rocked apart.鈥�

And even now, the physical element feels like 鈥渁 tiny part of it.鈥�

鈥淚t was more like emotional, mental, spiritual abuse than anything else,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥淗e just kind of put a spell on you, and made you believe.鈥�

Druger describes his response as 鈥渉ard to understand, unless you’re in it,鈥� yet his story shares a trait seen throughout the roughly 2,000 accounts reviewed by 蜜桃影视: a potent grooming process.

Authors of one found that grooming behaviors were present in 100% of the 24 school-based abuse cases they examined.

Based on court documents and interviews with dozens of experts, it is more common than not for survivors to take years 鈥� even decades鈥� not just to report abuse, but also to recognize it as such, at least in part because of that calculated and predatory process.

While there is no universally accepted legal definition of grooming 鈥� and federal law doesn鈥檛 designate it as a distinct crime at all 鈥� 20 states have moved to pass laws specifically defining it as the process of manipulating a child in order to gain their trust and sexually abuse them. It is criminalized as a felony in 18 of those states, including Wyoming and Missouri, which passed legislation in March 2026, according to

is not one of them, and doesn鈥檛 currently criminalize or define grooming children, though there are a patchwork of laws that criminalize elements of it, like enticing a child under 17 into a secluded area or car for sexual purposes.

鈥淲hat I see anecdotally with my education cases is a lot of grooming. A lot of stuff that鈥檚 hard for me to prove,鈥� said attorney Kat Thomas, who represents Druger and other survivors. The Child Victims Act didn鈥檛 close any of New York鈥檚 grooming law loopholes, Thomas said. 

Even in states where legislation does exist, it can be challenging to recognize and prosecute it on the ground.

鈥淕rooming is a process, not an act, and it involves behaviors that looked at individually 鈥� like gift-giving, emotional dependency 鈥� 鈥� [are] ambiguous,鈥� said Jessica Schidlow, senior policy analyst and legislative counsel at Enough Abuse.

These behaviors only become legible as grooming once they are looked at in retrospect or as a pattern, she said. And legislation that requires proof of sexual intent, 鈥渕isses the window where intervention could actually prevent abuse. So it鈥檚 really that fine line in the middle that is very difficult to get at,鈥� she added.

Even four decades later, it鈥檚 hard for Druger to parse through exactly what impact Mainwaring had on his life.

鈥淚 always thought I did better because of Conrad鈥� he said, because through his grooming process, Druger got more invested in school.

Now an acclaimed eye surgeon in Syracuse, Druger has degrees in biology, psychology and chemical engineering from Syracuse, as well as an MD and a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry. He also owns a martial arts gym and 鈥渨ork(s) out like mad.鈥�

鈥淚 just have a million things that I鈥檓 doing, and so you sort of say, 鈥榃ell, that鈥檚 successful.鈥� But, you know, maybe I鈥檓 doing that 鈥斺�� he paused, his voice breaking, as he began to cry. 鈥淪orry. It鈥檚 hard to talk about all of this,鈥� he added, pausing again. 鈥淢aybe I鈥檓 doing that to block out the other shit.鈥�

鈥淓specially this thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just too overwhelming.鈥�

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Crossing Boundaries

The grooming process frequently begins with seemingly innocuous conversations or texting that can eventually escalate into physical abuse, said Charol Shakeshaft, distinguished professor emerita at Virginia Commonwealth University and a leading researcher on childhood sexual abuse. Her for the U.S. Department of Education includes the widely cited 1-in-10 students statistic on the incidence of K-12 sexual misconduct.

To stop the practice in schools, it鈥檒l take a combination of thoughtful laws and mandatory institutional policies that define grooming behaviors and require training and reporting, she said. 

鈥淚’m not saying that it’s the fault of the school that people cross boundaries and sexually abuse kids, but 鈥� by not doing the supervision, the training, we provide an environment in which abuse can occur.鈥�

鈥� Charol Shakeshaft, leading child sexual abuse researcher

Without those, it鈥檚 easy for other adults in the building to dismiss behaviors they might flag as questionable, but not necessarily identifiable as abuse 鈥� a practice numerous advocates, survivors and experts reported as common.

Shakeshaft, who authored , said adults in schools will cross a boundary and, if they鈥檙e not called on it, they鈥檒l normalize their behavior and then cross another boundary and another until they 鈥渆nd up in a physical, sexual relationship with the students.鈥�

鈥淚’m not saying that it’s the fault of the school that people cross boundaries and sexually abuse kids, but what I am saying is that by not doing the supervision, the training, we provide an environment in which abuse can occur,鈥� she added.

This common practice of 鈥渢urning a blind eye鈥� to childhood sexual abuse comes from a number of places, experts told 蜜桃影视. In some cases, it emanates from a misconception about who typically abuses kids: so many have been taught to fear 鈥渟tranger danger,鈥� that they鈥檙e 鈥渘ot going to ever question the teacher in the next classroom,鈥� said Faith Colson, a survivor advocate who made a delayed report to police seven years ago about the abuse she experienced as an Illinois high school student in the early 2000s.

In others, teachers are fearful that a report could ruin their colleagues’ future and they don鈥檛 feel they have sufficient evidence to risk that. And even when complaints of inappropriate behavior are escalated, schools often choose to handle them internally because they don鈥檛 鈥渨ant the scandal,鈥� said attorney Jeff Herman, whose firm Herman Law has handled some 2,000 Child Victims Act cases. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that the people in my school acted with malice. I don’t think there was a cover-up,鈥� said Colson. 鈥淚 don’t think they wanted me to be abused or (were) actively trying to help him abuse me, but by ignoring those inappropriate behaviors 鈥� by doing nothing, they were communicating to him they would do nothing. And so that emboldened (him).鈥� 

In other cases, however, it appeared the accused teachers acted with complete license, flaunting their sexual abuse of students. One particularly , alleges that three teachers across a middle and high school in Central New York 鈥榮 Oswego County, separately and together, sexually assaulted four girls, ages 12 to 15, between 1967 and 1974. 

On some occasions, one of the accused teachers, James Middaugh, would allegedly assault two of the girls at once, forcing them to both perform oral sex on him then vaginally rape one in the other鈥檚 presence. In two separate incidents, Middaugh and another of the teachers, Jerry Frare, are accused of abusing two of the victims simultaneously in the back of Middaugh鈥檚 car.

Marsh, whose firm represented the women, called it 鈥渙ne of the most shocking cases I think I鈥檝e ever seen.鈥�

Middaugh, Frare and the third accused teacher, Ronald Smith, behaved so carelessly and flagrantly, according to the complaint, that the sexual abuse was essentially an open secret in the Phoenix Central School District. At one point, another teacher approached one of the girls and allegedly said, 鈥淩on Smith said you weren鈥檛 a virgin.鈥� 

鈥淢y lungs collapsed. I lost my breath,鈥�

鈥� retired teacher Jerry Frare, on reading a 2020 Child Victims Act complaint accusing him of sexual abuse

Middaugh also once publicly confronted one of the girls 鈥渋n a jealous rage鈥� about 鈥渁nother boy,鈥� according to the court documents, screaming that she was a 鈥渇ucking slut鈥� and a 鈥済oddamn whore.鈥� The complaint says this was observed by another teacher and that other district employees and volunteers knew Middaugh and Frare were meeting the underage girls at a local bar 鈥渢o fraternize outside of school.鈥�

During a long phone interview in June, Frare forcefully denied all the allegations against him, saying, 鈥淭here is not a single thing in that whole report that’s true about me. Every single sentence that my name is in, is untrue.鈥� The first time he read the complaint back in 2020, he said: 鈥淢y lungs collapsed. I lost my breath.鈥�

He confirmed having taught one of the plaintiffs, Janet Russo, and remembered her as a good student, but denied ever having any inappropriate contact with her. 鈥淚 have no idea,鈥� where the allegations came from, he added.

Frare acknowledged having been close friends with Middaugh 鈥� he recalled them going bowling together on snow days and the older teacher being in Frare鈥檚 1983 wedding party 鈥� but said charges that the two simultaneously sexually assaulted students in Middaugh鈥檚 car were 鈥渞idiculously untrue.鈥� He said Middaugh drove a 鈥渓ittle sports car鈥� back then, a two-seater. He laughed and said 鈥渦ntrue鈥� about the assertion that he and Middaugh would socialize with their female students at a local bar. 

Frare, who taught with Middaugh at Dillon Middle School, said he never saw or had any knowledge of him engaging in inappropriate relationships with students, describing him as a 鈥渧ery well-respected鈥� and “charismatic” teacher. He said he did not remember Smith, a music teacher and the band director, at all. The complaint alleges that in 1974, when she was 13, both Smith and Frare sexually abused Janet Russo.

Middaugh, who died , taught in the Phoenix schools for 13 years. Public records obtained by 蜜桃影视 show he lost his license in January 1994 on 鈥渕oral character鈥� grounds after the New York state Education Department learned that during his time there he 鈥減rovided two 8th grade students with cigarettes and alcohol and had sexual contact with said students which included sexual intercourse and oral sex.鈥�

That same month, Smith鈥檚 license was revoked on the same grounds after the department found that during his 1976-77 school year at Phoenix 鈥渉e engaged in a sexual relationship with a tenth grade student, which included several instances of sexual intercourse and oral sex which occurred on school grounds. Some two years later similar allegations were made by several additional complainants which resulted in Ronald L. Smith鈥檚 resignation from the district effective April 23, 1979.鈥� Smith died in 2025.

Frare, now in his mid-70s and retired after a 30-year teaching career in another district, did not go through the same process, although public records show he voluntarily surrendered his license in February 2025, not long before the Phoenix CVA cases .

In a September phone call, Frare said he agreed to relinquish his license based on 鈥渂ad advice鈥� from an education lawyer. Again denying the abuse allegations, he said he made the choice thinking it would allow him to avoid a legal fight, that it 鈥渨ouldn鈥檛 come to light鈥� and would have no real impact on his life since he stepped away from the classroom years ago.

“I think back now, and I certainly made a mistake in doing that,” he said. “I should have just stood my ground 鈥� like I will have to do now 鈥� and make sure that the truth comes out.”

Attorneys with Marsh Law Firm would not discuss the cases鈥� disposition.

Christopher Byrne, then-interim superintendent of Phoenix Central School District, said in May that while they take all allegations 鈥渧ery seriously,鈥� the district was not able to comment on specific legal cases. 鈥淥ver the years,鈥� he added, 鈥渟chool policies, reporting requirements, employee training, and student protections have evolved significantly, and the district continues to follow all state-mandated child protection and reporting protocols.鈥�

The state Education Department findings on Middaugh and Smith suggest that others in the small, rural district with may well have been aware of the alleged abuse. Colson, the Illinois survivor, wants educators to understand the need to act in those circumstances.

“You have to say something, because you may be the only person that sees it and doing nothing keeps the child trapped,” she said. “They cannot save themselves.鈥�

This is particularly true because perpetrators often target the most vulnerable students with the fewest resources, according to a number of attorneys who represent survivors.

This includes, 鈥渒ids who are poorer, who are on scholarships, who are the youngest in their class, who don鈥檛 live in the same part of town, whose home lives aren鈥檛 stable, etc.,鈥� Daniel Mullkoff, a partner at Wang Hecker, wrote in an email to 蜜桃影视.  鈥淵oung people who are already fighting to just make their way in the world and get a leg up are the ones who often are subjected to the worst, tragic abuses.鈥� 

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Evading Punishment, Time After Time

After graduating from Nottingham High, Druger enrolled as a freshman at Syracuse University, where Mainwaring鈥檚 abuse continued for at least another three years, he said. It didn鈥檛 stop until the coach left Syracuse in 1985 to work in admissions at Colgate University, about 40 miles away.

What Druger didn鈥檛 know at the time was that his schools weren鈥檛 the first places Mainwaring reportedly had gone to abuse boys. Nor would they be close to the last.  

A 2019 ESPN investigation uncovered of Mainwaring鈥檚 abuse across two continents, four states and dozens of years 鈥� though Druger said he鈥檚 since connected with scores more.

鈥淓very place he went, he was found out, kicked out and he would set up shop (at) the next place,鈥� said Druger.

In this way, Druger鈥檚 story embodies another commonality of countless cases of educator sexual abuse: a practice colloquially known as 鈥減assing the trash,鈥� in which the accused adult is allowed to quietly resign or retire before moving onto another school. According to one widely cited estimate, perpetrators on average move to before they are stopped. 

蜜桃影视 discovered dozens of such cases. According to court records, they include: 

, a band teacher at Stokes Elementary School in Rome, New York, was offered 鈥渞etirement with no criminal charges filed against him,鈥� after an 11-year-old student reported that he sexually abused her in 1989-90, according to A separate filing alleged that Carletta similarly abused other elementary school students while teaching at another school within the same district 15 years before. While Carletta was able to move onto yet another school 鈥� this time a pre-K 鈥� without ever facing accountability, the student was punished and 鈥渇orced to be in a separate self-contained class room,鈥� according to the complaint. When reached by phone in June, Carletta sounded confused at times, saying 鈥渋t鈥檚 a little hard to remember鈥� events from three decades ago. But he adamantly denied all allegations, saying they were 鈥渃ompletely untrue. I have never sexually abused any student.鈥� He also asserted his belief 鈥渢hat entire situation鈥� is 鈥渄ead and buried by now.鈥� In , a school counselor said she interviewed the plaintiff at the time she first came forward about the alleged abuse by Carletta and then, at the district鈥檚 request, five other female students who described the same 鈥渋nappropriate sexual ‘TOUCHING’ and ‘RUBBING'” by the band teacher. She said she took copious notes, which she was directed to hand over to the assistant superintendent. She never saw the notes or the students again, she stated, adding, 鈥淭o my knowledge, no action was taken against Mr. Carletta nor to protect female students from what he was doing to them.鈥� The case was .

alleged they were abused repeatedly in the late 1970s and early 鈥�80s by , who was hired to teach in their elementary school less than a year after being criminally charged and sentenced for sodomizing a student at his previous New York school. When he applied to Tri-Valley Central School District in rural Sullivan County in 1972, Wales was still on criminal probation, according to the complaint, and he asked in writing that the district not contact his employer 鈥� a home builder where he took a job after being forced to leave teaching and where his boss was aware of his arrest record. Tri-Valley apparently honored that request and also did not attempt to contact his former district. Wales was, this time at school, and charged with sexually abusing male students. where he served one year in jail, Wales provided the district attorney with he admitted to sexually abusing over his years at Tri-Valley Elementary School, . The district prevailed in the case, both in the lower court and The appellate court ruled Tri-Valley didn鈥檛 have an obligation to further investigate Wales鈥檚 background when they first hired him because his teaching license was valid and he provided letters of recommendation from his old district. It also found there was not enough evidence to show the district could have foreseen that Wales was a sexual threat to children, notwithstanding community speculation about why he spent so much time alone with young boys outside of school, taking them fishing and having them come to his house. The district did not respond to requests for comment. When reached in July at his Florida home and asked about his child sex abuse convictions and his teaching career, Wales responded, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 very nice, but I鈥檓 91 years old and I鈥檓 not interested.鈥�

, the coach and gym teacher from Our Lady of Lourdes High School, was hired there despite having been charged and convicted of molesting two students at a Wayne, New Jersey, public school three years before, according to court records. He eventually went to prison for while teaching in South Carolina 鈥� decades after allegedly abusing the former player who he benched and other students at Our Lady of Lourdes and Seton Catholic High School in New York in the 1960s and 鈥�70s.

A case involving New York City’s prestigious Dalton School shows not only how an accused abuser can escape accountability, but continue to prosper. A former student at the Manhattan private school that in 1986, when she was 14 years old, she was offered free tuition and housing at the home of the headmaster, Gardner Dunnan. As part of the arrangement, she was supposed to act as the family鈥檚 helper. 

The girl鈥檚 childhood had been difficult, so when this opportunity arose, her family leapt at what seemed like an unrivaled chance to 鈥渇undamentally 鈥� improve (their daughter鈥檚) prospects in life,鈥� according to court records. 

In the fall of her freshman year, without any formal application process, the Brooklyn teen enrolled at Dalton and moved in with the approximately 45-year-old headmaster and his family. At first she was grateful for this setup, which provided 鈥渢he first real stability she experienced in her childhood,鈥� according to records. But this false sense of safety was quickly shattered when Dunnan began sexually assaulting her in September 1986, according to the complaint.

Dunnan sexually abused her on four separate occasions between September and January of the following year, in his apartment and at the family鈥檚 second home in New Jersey, the complaint says. The first time it happened, the girl alleged she was walking from the bathroom back to her room in a towel, just after showering. The headmaster was lying on the couch in the living room and called her over. He pulled her on top of him, removed her towel and began to grope her and 鈥渞ub her naked body.鈥�

The night Dunnan assaulted her for the final time, he allegedly entered the girl鈥檚 darkened bedroom in the Manhattan apartment, climbed on top of her and thrust his genitals against hers through their clothes. It was then that his wife walked past the room. Moments later, the complaint states, Dunnan ran out and the girl heard shouting. Later that night, his wife kicked her out.

The girl moved back in with her father 鈥� nearly two hours away from Dalton 鈥� and after her academics took a hit that spring, transferred to a different high school. In the decades since, she has 鈥渟uffered intense emotional harm,鈥� according to court records, believing the assaults were her own fault and keeping the abuse a secret. 

A decade later, in 1997, Dunnan was forced to resign from Dalton after he had an affair with a  married teacher whom he supervised. The board cited  鈥�,鈥� in pushing him out. The headmaster, meanwhile, chalked up the professional violation to his 鈥渆motional and personal needs.鈥�

Despite the circumstances of his exit, the president of the board of trustees for his work, and he was immediately hired as an advisor to the provost of Columbia University, who was then a Dalton board member. He went on to run The School at Columbia University, a private K-8 school created by the university, according to his . As recently as 2017, Dunnan was working as the academic dean at another New York City private school, Avenues, followed by a one-year stint as a senior advisor at Success Academy Charter Schools. He lists himself as still working as a college admissions consultant. 

鈥淚鈥檓 particularly proud of the fact that almost all of the students I have worked with have found a school that is a perfect fit for them,鈥� he boasts on his profile.

Dunnan, who in court filings, did not respond to requests for comment. The plaintiff settled her case sometime around 2021 for an undisclosed amount. 

A Dalton spokesperson said in a written statement that he was limited in what he could share about specific allegations because of the litigation and out of respect for student privacy. He went on to describe the safeguards now in place.

 鈥淒alton has clear policies and boundary guidelines for appropriate interactions with students, which are published annually in the employee handbook. In addition, we conduct pre-employment screening and ongoing training of all employees,鈥� he said. 鈥淐urrently, at the time of hire, all employees are fingerprinted, and we conduct a background check. Every two years all employees complete a mandated reporter training, and annually they attend boundaries and sexual harassment prevention trainings.鈥�

Many of the incidents of alleged abuse in the CVA complaints occurred before New York state made criminal background checks mandatory for public educators in , but numerous experts and advocates say background checks alone do not go far enough. Since many allegations are handled internally or are never prosecuted, they leave no criminal paper trail. 

A 2010 U.S. Government Accountability Office found four key factors that lead to 鈥減assing the trash,鈥� including performing inadequate background checks and failing to follow up or inquire about 鈥渢roubling information regarding criminal histories鈥� on job applications

The 2015 Every Students Succeeds Act was meant to help combat this practice by including a directive that any K-12 institution receiving federal funding needed to institute safeguarding policies, yet most states have yet to respond, according to research conducted by .

Only have passed legislation to strengthen hiring practices and screen out educators who might be sexual safety risks or to make sure current employees engaged in misconduct are disciplined appropriately. Of those, only 13 states require school administrators to contact former employers to ask about a candidate鈥檚 history.

New York is not one of them. To this day, the state has no law beyond traditional fingerprinting, and employees are not always included in that mandate.

Druger, the former Syracuse student, holds his high school鈥檚 hiring practices 鈥渂latantly responsible for a lot of what happened. It was their job to protect me and they didn鈥檛 鈥� If anyone had done even a half-ass job, I would never have met Conrad, and I wouldn鈥檛 be involved in any of this.鈥�

The Syracuse City School District did not respond to requests for comment. At the time of the 2019 ESPN investigation, of Mainwaring ever having been a staff member or a sanctioned volunteer in the district. Syracuse University told 蜜桃影视 it could not comment because of the ongoing litigation.  

After decades of being passed from school to school and state to state, Mainwaring was eventually sentenced to in prison in 2024 for abusing young boys decades before at a Massachusetts summer camp. Even then, the criminal conviction was only possible because of a stipulation that stops the clock on the commonwealth鈥檚 statute of limitations if the perpetrator leaves the state.

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New York is a Legal Outlier 

While advances in code of conduct policies, criminal background checks and mandated reporting laws have helped to protect some students over the past three decades, 蜜桃影视鈥檚 reporting found that significant loopholes still remain 鈥� especially in New York. 

In October 2025, Enough Abuse and Prevent Child Abuse America did a of five recommended types of child abuse laws. New York had passed only three: mandating child sexual abuse education in schools; establishing a child sexual abuse task force and requiring student safety poster laws. Missing was employing standard screening tools, beyond a criminal background check, to prevent schools from hiring abusers.

The state is also a significant outlier in that it doesn鈥檛 specifically criminalize educator sexual misconduct. This means that once a student turns 17, the age of consent in New York, it is no longer illegal for their teachers to engage in a sexual relationship with them. This leaves older students, who can remain enrolled in public school up until they鈥檙e 21, unprotected. Many of these students tend to be those with disabilities, leaving young people already at a heightened risk with the fewest protections against abuse, said Terri Miller, president of the advocacy organization S.E.S.A.M.E. 

It also puts the Child Victims Act, which seemingly protects all children until they鈥檙e 18, at odds with the age of consent, meaning, 鈥淵ou have some really murky law and litigating it can get complicated,鈥� according to Helene Weiss, a partner at Marsh Law Firm who represents survivors. 

In comparison, 39 states and D.C. have adopted statutes that specifically criminalize the sexual abuse of children by anyone working in or associated with schools and by people in positions of authority over a student, many beyond the age of consent, according to Enough Abuse. In Massachusetts, where the age of consent is 16, the governor signed into law in  July.

While New York has no such prohibitions on educators, the state does criminalize sexual relationships in so-called vulnerable 鈥渢reatment-provider鈥� contexts, like doctors and patients.

鈥淎 patient, by law, is incapable of consent. 鈥� but that doesn鈥檛 exist with teachers (and students)?鈥� said an incredulous Thomas, Druger鈥檚 attorney. 鈥淟ike what? How the hell? If anything, it鈥檚 even worse.鈥�

The state also on the prevalence of child sexual abuse. And once abuse has been found, educator disciplinary records are particularly challenging to access in New York, unlike in where that information is easily found online.

鈥淲hile you can get the disciplinary records of (N.Y.) podiatrists, hairdressers, lawyers, doctors, you cannot get the disciplinary records of teachers online,鈥� said Marsh. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no place to even look for them 鈥� regarding the professionals that have the most contact with children.鈥�

Further obscuring access to information about many of these cases are the nondisclosure clauses written into some settlement agreements, according to numerous attorneys and survivors who spoke with 蜜桃影视 about this issue.

鈥淐onfidential settlements are not out of the ordinary, but ones that limit survivors from speaking about their experiences, even with family members, can have a chilling effect,鈥� said Weiss. 鈥淭hey can discourage other survivors from coming forward, shield institutions from accountability and prevent communities from understanding whether misconduct is isolated or systemic.鈥� 

While some attorneys argued that NDAs can help to protect survivors, most interviewed by 蜜桃影视 pointed to them as yet another tool for silencing victims, one that allows abuse to occur behind a veil of secrecy. Private schools almost universally request these confidentiality agreements when settling CVA cases, multiple attorneys said.

We鈥檙e worried about our wallets instead of fixing our culture.

Michelle Denault, survivor of school-based sexual abuse in Illinois

As these cases have worked their way through the courts, critics have raised concerns about, sometimes jeopardizing funding for today鈥檚 students in order to hold accountable teachers from decades ago.

As of October 2024, New York City alone paid over $160 million to settle more than 150 general Child Victims Act cases 鈥� most of them filed against its Department of Education, according to an investigation by the news organization . They found that in some cases, the educators named in suits were still employed and teaching, even as the city paid to settle abuse claims.

Some schools are insured for these types of incidents, but a number of insurance companies have refused to make payments, citing the school鈥檚 negligence or the age of the cases 鈥� a practice and legal experts have criticized. 

In November, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that allows school districts to issue bonds for up to 30 years 鈥� instead of 15 鈥� to pay for CVA claims, in an attempt to give schools greater flexibility and financial stability.

Advocate Michelle Denault, in Illinois, said critiques around the high costs of settlements are disturbing, noting, 鈥淚t’s one of those things that I really struggle with 鈥� that we’re worried about our wallets instead of fixing our culture.鈥� 

Witnessing decades of past abuse and a steady drumbeat , those close to the issue argue hefty financial consequences may be the only thing capable of forcing change or accountability.

鈥淭he reality in this space is that adults prefer and protect adults, and the need of the adult being accused is always so much more important than the need to make sure they don鈥檛 do it again,鈥� said Hamilton. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we have an epidemic of cover-up, not just child sex abuse.鈥�

Disclosure: Amanda Geduld attended Dalton School and graduated in 2011. Her father, Buzzy Geduld, is a former member of Dalton鈥檚 board of trustees and led its investment committee. Their involvement with the school came after former headmaster Gardner Dunnan鈥檚 tenure.

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