Montville Superintendent, HS Principal Busted In Fight Club Case

MONTVILLE, CT — The Montville Schools Superintendent, the high school principal and the school's assistant principal have been arrested on warrants in connection with the "fight club" case at the school, according to Connecticut State Police.

The three surrendered to state police Thursday morning and were charged with failure for a mandated reporter to report abuse and were released on written promises to appear in Norwich Superior Court on May 3.

Superintendent Brian C. Levesque, 45; Montville High School Principal Jeffrey S. Theodoss, 64; and assistant principal Tatiana Patten, 59, were all identified by state police "as being aware of, and having firsthand knowledge of the incidents that occurred within the school," as it pertained to the fight club.

Former math substitute teacher Ryan A. Fish, 23, was arrested last week on a host of reckless endangerment and risk of injury to a child charges for being the alleged ringleader of the fight club, where students fought in a closed classroom last October.

The case broke open in December after a state Department of Children and Families social worker notified authorities that one of the victims had turned up in juvenile court on another matter "showing real and identifiable symptoms of having been traumatized" by the fight club.

State police launched an investigation and obtained cell phone videos among other evidence and witness statements that led to Fish's arrest and subsequent firing by the school district.

The three administrators were all aware of the classroom fights in October - even viewing some of the cell phone videos - but none reported it to police or the Department of Children and Families, according to state police.

Theodoss even told state police that he Levesque whether he should report it to police, and the superintendent allegedly told him "no."

Levesque also allegedly told state police investigators that he did not deem the matter to be of a criminal nature that warranted notification of authorities, but that that "was maybe a mistake."

Photo 1: Brian C. Levesque; Photo 2: Jeffrey S. Theodoss; Photo 3: Tatiana Patten. Photo credit: Connecticut State Police

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