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Copyright Daily News, L.P. Jan 26, 2006
THE
PARENTS of a 12-year-old girl who was sexually abused by her gym teacher
charged her Staten Island school refused
to hand over her report card because they owed about $300 in tuition.
The
report card incident was revealed in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme
Court against the Archdiocese of New York and Lynn Saunders, the gym
teacher at St. Paul's Catholic School.
The suit claims the archdiocese ignored warnings that Saunders was acting
inappropriately with students.
Saunders
pleaded guilty to sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child
last year and was sentenced to six years' probation. She was also fired and
required to register as a sex offender.
The
father of the young victim, whose name is being withheld by the Daily News,
was devastated yesterday as he talked about the suffering of his daughter,
who is now enrolled at a public school.
"She
is having a very hard time. Her grades have fallen dramatically," the
dad said.
He said
the family was furious over the withholding of the report card.
Family
lawyer William Unroch said in court papers that the school principal had
been warned by other teachers that Saunders was emotionally immature and
was allowing girls to hang out with her in the gym when they should have
been in class.
A
spokesman for the archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling,
said the school had no prior knowledge of any inappropriate behavior by
Saunders and fired her after the charges surfaced.
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