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Families of molestation victims sue Plano ISD, elementary school principal
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
The families of the kindergarten students who were allegedly molested by a former Plano ISD teacher have sued the district and the former principal of the school where the crimes are said to have taken place.
Joseph Peter Garbarini III, 30, is a former kindergarten teacher at Hunt Elementary in Murphy who was sentenced to 62 years in prison in October 2011. Garbarini was convicted of molesting two female students during the 2009-2010 school year, but the mother of another alleged victim testified during his trial and is the third plaintiff in the federal lawsuit, which was filed Friday in Sherman.
The alleged molestation took place when Garbarini played what he called "the mommy-baby game," where he would touch the genitals of the girls while pretending to change their diapers.
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| Joseph Garbarini |
It also contends that district policies concerning the hugging and holding hands between teachers and students contributed to an environment where Garbarini was allowed to prey on the students.
"[The incidents] took place repeatedly following complaints/reports of sexual misconduct on the part of the teacher to the school's principal, which the principal consciously chose to disregard based on her desire to protect the teacher and place her loyalty to him above her concerns for the minor children whose safety and welfare she was charged to protect," the complaint reads.
The lawsuit contends the parents of one of the victims attempted to have their child transferred out of Garbarini's class prior to the start of the school year, but those efforts were discouraged by the principal.
The plaintiffs also contend that fellow teachers complained to Engelking about Garbarini and his hugging and tickling of students as well as allowing students to sit on his lap. However, the lawsuit alleges that no action was taken by Engelking, who district spokeswoman Lesley Range-Stanton said retired from the district following the 2011-2012 school year.
"Instead of responding by removing the teacher from his position (or even threatening to do so if such conduct occurred again), the principal admits that her response was to illustrate to the teacher how to hug a small girl from the side, and to try to 'make a plan for how ... he could become more aware that ... this type of thing was happening with a child,'" the lawsuit stated.
According to the lawsuit, Garbarini asked Engelking to assign another kindergarten teacher to monitor him and let him know if he was engaging in any inappropriate touching. The complaint states the principal never followed up with the monitor to determine if any inappropriate action was taken.
Prosecutors said during Garbarini's trial that police found thousands of adult-sized dirty diapers in Garbarini's home during a search, as well as a cage where Garbarini slept and played sexual games and a toddler bed with sex restraints on each corner.
It was revealed during the trial that Garbarini kept a bag of extra clothing in his classroom so that female students who had "accidents" could change their clothes. Prosecutors said he would help the students change their clothing behind a bookshelf that was shielded from the view of other students and anyone looking in his classroom window.
The plaintiffs contend Engelking refused to stop Garbarini's actions "because, in her words, she valued her male kindergarten teachers too much to let such things get in the way of their teaching."
The district's policy of allowing teachers to take children's hands and hug them is mentioned in the lawsuit. It states that while these actions are characterized as comforting and not sexual in nature, the policy emboldened Garbarini to molest children.
"The aforementioned policy and/or custom supplied open invitation and permission to the teacher to engage in such conduct ..." the suit reads. "PISD further engaged in a failure to adopt and implement a policy addressing sexual abuse and other maltreatment of children. ... This failure occurred with deliberate indifference of PISD to the constitutional rights of such children, including the victims."
The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages.
Charles Crawford, an attorney with Plano ISD, said he was aware the lawsuit was filed. However, he said the district had not been served with the complaint and therefore could not comment.
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