School districts face sex abuse claims under Child Victims Act

ALBANY ⁠— A female gym teacher who allegedly groomed and sexually abused a 13-year-old girl at a Western New York middle school in the 1970s gained access to the pupil by visiting her home to offer comfort when the girl's mother died.

A former science teacher at Buffalo Public Schools is accused of harassing, exposing, and molesting a male student approximately five days a week over the course of two years in the 1980s when the teen was 14 and 15. He was placed in the alleged pedophile's care for study hall, class, tutoring, after-school activities, and summer school, according to court documents.

A former coach at a suburban Monroe County school is accused of grooming a male student for sex on school grounds starting when the boy was 8 years old in the 1960s and abusing him well into his teens.

These are a few of the startling accounts contained in lawsuits targeting public school districts filed on Aug. 14 as the Child Victims Act's one-year retroactive window to file old child sex abuse claims went into effect in New York state.

Read more: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/First-lawsuits-filed-against-school-districts-14324808.php