BATAVIA (NY)
The Daily News [Batavia NY]
October 25, 2024
By SCOTT DESMIT
BATAVIA — St. Paul Lutheran Church and School are facing a lawsuit which claims it failed to protect children from its former principal, who earlier this year admitted repeatedly molesting a student.
The lawsuit by Andreozzi & Foote Law Firm of Harrisburg, Pa. is on behalf of the child victim in the case. The firm is a nationwide firm that handles sexual abuse cases.
Jason R. Clark, 43, in June admitted that he repeatedly molested the child from the beginning of the 2014 school year to the end in June 2015.
Clark was working as a physical education teacher at the time. He was named principal in 2019 and served in that role until his arrest.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, a D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Clark, however, was given a deal and was placed on one year of interim probation for one year. If successful, he would be allowed to withdraw his plea and instead plead guilty to a misdemeanor and avoid a state prison term.
He is not named in the lawsuit.
The suit claims that Clark demanded the child not tell anyone about the abuse and that before it ended, and that “employee(s), volunteers, and/or agent(s) of St. Paul, including administrators with the power to take corrective action, became aware of Clark’s inappropriate behavior toward minor female students.”
“This includes an allegation that Clark kissed a female student while consoling her while alone with her in a staircase,” the suit alleges.
The suit also claims that:
- Clark tickled and hugged multiple children and placed children on his lap.
- Parents reported they were uncomfortable with his behavior.
- Parents reported his behavior to St. Paul’s staff.
- Clark admitted that he warned parents that he was a “hugger.”
- St. Paul’s leadership and administration, including Pastor Allen Werke, were on “actual notice” that Clark posed a risk of sexual harm to students.
- Despite such notice of Clark’s behavior, “no meaningful action was taken to protect” the victim from Clark and reports of his actions were dismissed as unfounded by St. Paul.
The suit lists numerous items concerning what it calls St. Paul’s negligence and failure to follow its protocols for such behavior.
The lawsuit does not specify damages sought in monetary terms but only as seeking damages “including attorneys’ fees, costs, pre and post judgment interest, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and such other relief as this Honorable Court deems just.”
The suit was filed in August in Supreme Court in Genesee County.
St. Paul filed a response denying the claims and seeking dismissal. A judge will consider the case Nov. 7.
Clark was indicted in January after an investigation by city of Batavia police. He was initially put on leave but was later fired.
As part of his plea, Clark will have to register as a sex offender and will never be allowed to teach again.