NY: Blind girl's family is suing the city for $6M

West Brighton resident, 11, was allegedly molested by her special ed teacher
Thursday, December 11, 2008
By JOHN ANNESE
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The family of a blind 11-year-old West Brighton girl says they'll seek $6 million in damages from the city school system after her special education teacher was charged with molesting her during physical therapy sessions.

The girl and her mother, whose names are being withheld because of the child's age, filed a notice of claim against the city and teacher David M. Jordet, alleging "negligence, reckless, improper supervision and carelessness."

"This is one of a parent's worst nightmares," said lawyer Jonathan D'Agostino, who is representing the family.

The girl's mother, he said, had requested the school assign a female faculty member instead of a male even before the incident took place.

"This is what they were trying to prevent to begin with," D'Agostino contended.

Authorities arrested Jordet, a 36-year-old Grymes Hill resident, last month, alleging he touched the girl's clothed breast and vaginal areas at least once between Sept. 19 and Oct. 30 inside Barnes Intermediate School, when she was 10 years old.

Jordet does "mobility training" twice a week with visually impaired students at the school, the source said.

School officials learned about the alleged abuse after a paraprofessional noticed the girl did not want to go with Jordet for mobility training, the source said.

According to the notice of claim, which was filed on Dec. 1, the girl "has since experienced and has been experiencing nightmares (and) has become withdrawn and isolated."

Jordet worked as a roving citywide special education vision teacher.

"Pending the outcome of the criminal case, the Department of Education has reassigned him to an administrative role that does not involve working with children," said Connie Pankratz, a spokeswoman for the city Law Department.

Regarding the notice of claim, Ms. Pankratz said, "This is obviously a terrible situation, and we will review the legal papers thoroughly when we receive them."

Jordet faces a felony count of first-degree sexual abuse and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted at trial on the felony charge, Jordet faces between two and seven years in prison.

His lawyer in the criminal case, Joseph Sorrentino, said last night that the alleged sexual abuse "emphatically never happened."

"Mr. Jordet is innocent, and we are confident that he will be found not guilty," Sorrentino said.

John Annese is a news reporter for the Advance. He may be reached at annese@siadvance.com.