School Took No Steps To Find Truth In Norton Case: Court Docs

STOUGHTON, MA — New court documents have shed light on the fall 2015 investigation into an alleged relationship between former Stoughton High School teacher Timothy Norton and a student.

In court documents filed Jan. 12 by attorney Robert Curley of Braintree, it is alleged that Principal Juliette Miller began an investigation into the relationship after a student reported that they noticed that Norton was giving the victim, identified in court documents as Jane Done, special treatment.

Prior to being questioned by Miller, Norton told the victim, who was 17 years old at the start of the relationship, to leave her phone behind and had previously threatened that he would kill himself if his conduct was revealed, according to court documents. Miller asked for the cell phone, which she believed was used to communicate with Norton, but did not ask the victim to retrieve the phone she said she didn't have it on her.

"(Miller) took no steps to effectively discover the truth and conducted the interview in a hostile, intimidating and coercive manner designed to obstruct the revelation of the truth," Curley wrote. "In fact, the cell phone contained numerous text messages over an extended time period between Norton and Ms. Doe wholly unrelated to her education. Had Miller taken the few minutes to obtain and review the cell phone’s content, the extent of the improper relationship and abuse of Ms. Doe by Norton would have been revealed and she could have proceeded with her senior year of high school in a more educationally appropriate fashion."

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Norton was also questioned and neither he or the victim were disciplined. The relationship allegedly continued as the victim started college before ending in September 2017.

Following the end of the relationship, the victim confided to another Stoughton High School teacher about it. The teacher then brought the information to Miller, who notified Norton that he was going to be served with an "intention to dismiss" notice and the information would be passed to the Stoughton Police Department. Norton resigned a short time afterward.

The complaint alleges that Miller, Rizzi and other town employees did not perform their duty as mandated reporters when they had reason to suspect an inappropriate relationship between now-former teacher and the victim. Attorneys for the Town, Miller, and Superintendent Marguerite Rizzi have filed a motion to dismiss.

Neither Norton nor school officials have publicly commented on the allegations.

Image: File Photo