TYNGSBOROUGH (MA)
Lowell Sun [Lowell, MA]
August 31, 2026
By Melanie Gilbert
Alleged victim says administration, staff took ‘no action’ to protect students
A former student of Innovation Academy Charter School alleges that the school should have known that a former teacher on staff had a “history of inappropriate student interactions,” but took no action to protect students from him.
Jane Jones No. 600 (a pseudonym allowed by a judge) filed a civil complaint against the Tyngsboro-based school and the former teacher on July 31. She alleges that she was “groomed, sexually harassed, assaulted and raped by Ryan Deery, a teacher in that school.”
The 18-page document filed with Middlesex Superior Court alleges that IACS “encouraged an atmosphere of familiarity between the teachers, and the students, different from the accepted and expected boundaries in an educational setting.” See original article for civil complaint.
Defendants’ statements on allegations
IACS Head of School Greg Orpen said by email Monday that the school was unable provide further information “because this is the subject of litigation and is a personnel matter regarding a former employee.”
Paul Robertson, a lawyer with Bowditch Attorneys, said in a statement Monday that his client Deery denied the allegations in the civil case.
“Mr. Deery has been an educator for approximately twenty years and has taught at several schools during that time. … Mr. Deery denies the allegations of wrongdoing made against him in the complaint,” Robertson said by email. “He is concerned that serious and untested allegations are being unfairly litigated in the press. He has not even been served with the complaint, nor has he had an opportunity to respond through the judicial process. His counsel is continuing to investigate the allegations and the relevant background, and Mr. Deery anticipates addressing the allegations through that process.”
On Aug. 3, Middlesex Superior Court Judge William Barrett allowed two ex-parte motions from the plaintiff, one to use a pseudonym and that her address be omitted from the record, and another to impound her affidavit “until further order of the Court.” See original article for video.
According to court documents, following the judge’s impoundment order, Jane Jones’ affidavit was submitted to the court “in a sealed envelope.”
When service is made to IACS and Deery, they will be provided with copies of the alleged victim’s sealed document, which may or may not contain additional documentation.
Civil complaint against school, former teacher
Innovative Academy Charter School is a project-based, tuition-free, public charter school that serves more than 700 students in grades 5 through 12 from more than 10 Massachusetts communities including Chelmsford, Lowell, Billerica, Dracut, Groton, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro and Westford. The charter was founded in 1996 as The Chelmsford Public Charter School.
The school changed its name to Innovation Academy Charter School in 2006 and relocated to Tyngsboro in the summer of 2008.