Hamden Center Sued In Teacher’s Aide Sex Case: Report

STRATFORD, CT — Just weeks after former Stratford teacher's aide Kyle Damato-Kushel, 48, was sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, the victim’s family has filed two separate lawsuits claiming the teen’s counselors knew about the assaults but didn’t report it, according to the Connecticut Post.

Daniel Tepfer of the Post reports that The Boys & Girls Village in Milford and The Children’s Center of Hamden have been named in the lawsuits on claims that staff members failed to report the sexual assaults as required by state law. Staff members at the Hamden center are accused in the lawsuit of taking the teen out on outings so they could “check out” Damato-Kushel, according to Tepfer.

Boys & Girls Village CEO Dr. Steven Kant denied the accusations made in the lawsuit in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

“Boys & Girls Village, unconditionally denies, the assertion being reported in the media that staff at the agency were aware of an inappropriate relationship between a youth and a teacher’s aide and failed to report it,” Kant said in the statement. “At BGV, all our professional staff undergoes in-depth training, based on the legal requirements and our agency’s strict protocols, for reporting to the State Department of Children and Families (DCF) any circumstance in which BGV staff has reason to suspect any instance of child or adolescent exploitation. Each of our counselors renews their DCF-based training on an annual basis.

“Our current knowledge of the circumstances related to this lawsuit indicates that no failure to monitor or report occurred by BGV staff. We will continue to cooperate with the fact-gathering process related to the lawsuit, but pursuant to our obligation for client privacy, we cannot comment further regarding this matter.”

Damato-Kushel, who worked at Wooster Middle School and had been the victim's preschool teacher, was sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier this month after making a plea deal in January just as the case was heading to trial.

Stratford Police arrested Damato-Kushel in December 2015 following an investigation that began Oct. 1 of that year when police were contacted regarding allegations of inappropriate conduct by an adult female and a juvenile victim. She was charged with second-degree sexual assault, illegal sexual contact with a minor, fourth-degree sexual assault where the victim is a student and tempering with a witness. Damato-Kushel pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury in the plea agreement.

The 15-year-old victim told police that he had been having sex with Damato-Kushel since 2013 when he was in seventh grade and the relationship was discovered by Damato-Kushel's husband in their Stratford home, according to previous reports.

Read more about the lawsuits at the Connecticut Post here.

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