3rd Sexual Assault Lawsuit Filed Against Wilton Preschool Aide

WILTON, CT — A third family has filed suit against the town and the Board of Education, claiming former paraprofessional Eric Von Kohorn sexually assaulted their son while he was a preschool student at Miller-Driscoll School.

According to the complaint, filed Oct. 20 in Stamford court, Von Kohorn "groomed, sexually exploited, abused, assaulted and injured," the 4-year-old disabled boy during the 2013-14 school year.

The suit alleges that, as a result of the "negligence" of school staff and other "authorized agents and/or employees" of the Wilton Board of Education, the child "suffered physical injuries and serious permanent damages, as well as extensive permanent emotional and psychological injuries flowing directly from the physical injuries and abuse he suffered."

This is the third suit filed by Wilton families against Von Kohorn, who worked as an aide at Miller-Driscoll School from 2007-14.

The first complaint was filed by the parents of a girl they claimed Von Kohorn sexually assaulted in a Miller-Driscoll bathroom during the 2012-13 school year. That suit was settled in 2018.

A second lawsuit dates from October 2016 and alleges that Von Kohorn took photographs of a 4-year-old Miller-Driscoll student while his pants were down in the bathroom. The episode caused extensive permanent emotional and psychological injuries to the boy, according to the complaint. That lawsuit had appeared headed for settlement in February, before being by the pandemic. A trial management conference is scheduled for March 2021.

Van Kohorn served two years of a six-year suspended sentence on a count of illegal possession of child pornography in the second degree. He was released in October 2017.