LITCHFIELD — Newly released documents show local school officials were warned for years about allegations of sexual abuse by late track and field coach David Driscoll.
The release of these documents came shortly after Stamford-based attorney Paul Slager filed lawsuits against the town on behalf of two men who said they were abused by Driscoll while they attended Litchfield Public Schools in the 1980s and 1990s.
Driscoll, a renowned track, field and swim coach, died in September.
Since his death, at least 10 men have come forward to say that they were sexually abused by Driscoll while they attended middle school.
Driscoll resigned from his position at the schools in 1993 after a state police investigation found there was probable cause to charge him with third- and fourth-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and allowing a person under the age of 16 to operate a motor vehicle. But an arrest warrant was refused by then-State’s Attorney Frank Maco after witnesses refused to testify in court.
School documents obtained by CT Examiner through a public records request show that Litchfield school officials were alerted multiple times to allegations against the coach. These documents also provide insight on what school officials knew about Driscoll’s conduct.
In a 1994 letter addressed to Driscoll, then-Board of Education attorney Richard O’Connor warned Driscoll that he was violating the terms of his resignation by “resuming relationships” with students that put administrators in a “difficult position.”
“Although you may construe your activities to be innocent and have voiced facile explanations by the way of deflection and avoidance, you plainly are back with the students,” O’Connor wrote.
O’Connor told Driscoll he should “take great pains” to ensure students, parents and school administrators were aware that he was no longer working on behalf of the school district when he attended athletic events.
O’Connor wrote that he believed Driscoll had a “predisposition” to engage in activities that led to “claims and investigations.”
“I strongly urge you to recognize the seriousness of the problem, to get some professional help, and to avoid the kind of conduct that led to the problems that are being referred to,” he wrote.
O’Connor wrote that he and former Superintendent Robert Lindgren were also concerned Driscoll’s behavior would lead to more complaints in the future, warning that if the criminal investigation were to reopen the disclosure of such information would “be most detrimental to you and your image in the Litchfield community.”
Despite warnings from O’Connor, Driscoll continued to participate in school events throughout the years.
In 2013, a letter penned by a “concerned citizen” warned the school board of Driscoll’s role in school track races.
The author told the board that for seven or eight years Driscoll had been the head starter for Litchfield High School track meets, and warned members of the Board of Education that Driscoll had resigned from the school after state police found probable cause to arrest Driscoll for sexually abusing students, and that an arrest warrant had been issued against Driscoll by Maine State Police.
“I have been told that the First Selectman, Town Attorney, Park and Rec. Director, Superintendent of Schools, High School Principal, High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director are all aware of the situation and have done nothing about it,” the anonymous citizen wrote in 2013. “Now you are aware of the situation.”
“Does the name Jerry Sandusky ring a bell?” the letter read, referring to the former assistant Penn State football coach who was found guilty of 45 counts of child abuse. “You will be very fortunate if one of these individuals, who are now about 40 years old, does not come forward.”
Documents also show that a teacher and school nurse notified administrators in 1986 of an allegation by a student, who claimed Driscoll said that if runners were lagging, he would catch them and “pull down their pants.”
Despite claims regarding Driscoll’s conduct, the coach had spotless performance evaluations, many letters of appraisal, and even one letter from a former student who claimed in 1992 — while the criminal investigation into Driscoll was being conducted — that allegations the coach had molested students were “fabricated.”
In 1980, Driscoll applied to be the high school’s athletic director.
The lawsuits
On Tuesday, Slager filed two lawsuits against the town and its Board of Education on behalf of John Fitterer and Dan Bird — two men who brought awareness to allegations against Driscoll by publicly sharing their stories at a community truth and healing event held in November.
The lawsuits claim school officials became aware of allegations against Driscoll in the mid-1980s, years before Fitterer and Bird ever met Driscoll.
The lawsuit alleges that school officials acted negligently by failing to act on a complaint made by parents who said Driscoll sexually abused their son.
Rather than investigate, suspend or terminate Driscoll after becoming aware of this complaint, school officials concealed these allegations from the community and “continued to encourage and support Driscoll’s close contact with children,” according to the lawsuit.
Speaking to CT Examiner, Slager questioned why school officials decided to handle sexual abuse allegations against Driscoll in a way that kept him in contact with children.
“Children were exposed unnecessarily to very significant threats to their well-being as a result of that silence,” he said.
The lawsuit also alleges that the Board of Education made it possible for Driscoll to isolate, abuse and groom “a steady parade of Litchfield children in its public system.”
“The power of this lawsuit for these gentlemen is giving a voice to others who may have been similarly situated,” Slager said. “ It is […] enabling others to understand that what happened to them is not their fault, and also allowing them to know that coming forward publicly, it should not be a matter of shame, but should be a matter of strength.”
Since Fitterer and Bird were students, the Litchfield Public School system has been absorbed by Region 20 Public Schools.
Town attorney Michael Rybak declined to comment Wednesday on the lawsuits or whether Region 20 Public Schools would be impacted by the litigation.
Litchfield First Selectwoman Denise Raap did not return a request for comment on Wednesday.
Maine State Police investigation
In addition to working as coach for Litchfield Public Schools, Driscoll spent his summers as a camp counselor at Wild Goose Camp in Maine, which closed in the 1990s.
During Connecticut State Police’s investigation into Driscoll, one boy came forward claiming the coach sexually abused him at the Maine summer camp in 1989.
When the Connecticut investigation closed in 1993, Maine State Police opened a criminal investigation into Driscoll.
Detective Tim Doyle interviewed two directors of Wild Goose Camp, according to a 23-page, heavily redacted police investigation obtained by CT Examiner through a records request. One director denied receiving any complaint about Driscoll’s behavior.
Boys who attended the camp were between 8 and 14 years old, and were not typically from Maine. One of the directors told police that children came from around the United States and the world for the camp.
Driscoll had worked at Wild Goose Camp, which was attended by 60 to 65 boys every summer, for nearly 30 years. He would sometimes take boys on overnight water ski trips and, on occasion, take one boy alone on a boat with him, the director said.
“It raises grave concerns about whether other boys may have been abused by Driscoll,” Slager told CT Examiner. “The Maine revelation only raises the specter of a much larger trail of abuse.”
One camp director told Maine State Police they had no plans to rehire Driscoll after they found out he was investigated by police.
About two months after Maine State Police began its investigation, then-Assistant District Attorney William Baghdoyan wrote a letter to Doyle stating: “Unless you have some strong feelings regarding this case, I am going to decline prosecution due to the fact of the age of the case, and that both the witnesses and defendant are all living out of state.”
Doyle, who retired from Maine State Police in 2008, told CT Examiner, “I don’t have a specific recollection of the case […] beyond what is in the report.”
Staff reporter Nick Sambides contributed to this report
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