Principal: No Action Against Dean in Sex Abuse Lawsuit

The principal of said schools officials aren’t taking any action against the school’s dean of students following .

In an email, Principal Steve Biagioni said he had no comment about recent claims by a former  student that, while working as the principal there, Dean of Students John Graceffa failed to act on prior reports of sexual abuse by a teacher.

The former student and alleged victim, , 20, filed a lawsuit in Middlesex Superior Court on Friday. He claims that Graceffa could have stopped a former drama teacher at John W. McDevitt Middle School, Waltham, from abusing him.

Specifically, Phillips’ attorney Carmen Durso said, that Graceffa had been informed three times in 2002 about prior acts of , Robert Dacey, but failed to take action about the accusations. Dacey died in 2007 while awaiting trial on sexual abuse charges.

Reached by Waltham Patch on Monday, Graceffa said he had "no idea" about the lawsuit and was shocked to learn about it from a reporter.

Parents outside Arlington Catholic High School on Wednesday were equally surprised. Several said they had not heard about the lawsuit. When briefed by a reporter on the accusations, most declined to comment.

Beth, who asked her last name not be used for this story, said whether she is concerned about the lawsuit depends on its outcome.

“But certainly, if the claims were true, I’d have some issues,” said Beth, whose daughter is a freshman at Arlington Catholic. “I think that’s very serious and something should be done about it if it happened.”

The lawsuit claims Graceffa violated the state’s law that mandates school officials report such incidents to police. The suit also claims the City of Waltham, also named as a defendant, violated Title IX, a federal law requiring schools to have procedures about notice, education and training for reporting sexual abuse.

In a press conference, to the ongoing Penn State sexual abuse scandal, which culminated in the firing of legendary football coach Joe Paterno.

Paterno was fired amid criticism that he failed to notify authorities of reports that Jerry Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, had allegedly sexually abused several young boys. Sandusky faces trial on more than 40 counts of child sexual abuse.

In the lawsuit, Phillips asks for a jury trial and damages, both compensatory and punitive.