Lawsuits filed against Fall River Diocese, Freetown-Lakeville School District, alleging they could have stopped rapes, molestations of girl by schoolteacher, CCD instructor

A lawyer has filed two lawsuits on behalf of his client concerning disturbing incidents that took place in the area.

According to Lawyer Carmen Durso, a local 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and raped repeatedly by a man who was her middle school teacher, and the CCD instructor at her church and he believes there were adults who could have intervened.

“Adults in both places knew something was very wrong, but did nothing!  As a young adult, she put her perpetrator in jail.  Now she is suing the people who could have stopped it from happening. “

In April of this year, 58-year-old former Freetown substitute teacher and Sunday school teacher Gilbert Hernandez was sentenced to 30 to 40 years in state prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised probation.

Hernandez knew the victim through a close friendship she had with his son, along with his role as a substitute teacher in the Freetown-Lakeville schools and as a Sunday school teacher at a church in Freetown.

The rapes and molestations all occurred between February and July of 2018 in the towns of Freetown, Raynham, Taunton and Lakeville.

During the sentencing hearing, the victim in the case told the court how her childhood was stripped from her and how the defendant’s manipulations led her to lose many friendships.  She also courageously spoke about the impact the repeated abuse has had on her, detailing for the court how she has frequent nightmares and often wakes up to vomit from PTSD flashbacks.

On Wednesday, Durso filed two lawsuits on behalf of the victim.

One lawsuit is against the Freetown Lakeville Regional School District and Hernandez. The complaint alleges that the district knew or should have known that Hernandez
would sexually harass, assault and rape the victim, and failed to prevent it, or to protect
her from future assaults, after becoming aware of Hernandez’s criminal conduct. It also alleges that the district had a duty to exercise reasonable care in hiring, training, supervising and/or retaining its Middle School teachers and administrators.

The second complaint is filed against the Fall River Diocese, teachers at the CCD program at St. John Neumann Parish, the parish’s pastor, and Hernandez. It alleges that the Diocese had a duty to exercise reasonable care in hiring, training, supervising and/or retaining Hernandez. The complaint also alleges that the Diocese had a duty to exercise reasonable care in hiring, training, supervising and/or retaining the pastor and CCD teachers. The lawsuit accuses the pastor and teachers of observing, on multiple occasions, that Hernandez was constantly engaging in inappropriate, and boundary violating, behaviors.

The lawsuits are seeking damages in “an amount which is fair, just and adequate for the injuries and damages sustained, and the pain and suffering endured, plus interest, costs, and attorney’s fees.”