KAILUA-KONA — The parents of a former Hawaii Preparatory Academy student on Wednesday filed suit against the school, alleging it failed to prevent or investigate a relationship between that student and a former employee.
The lawsuit comes a little over a year after the school announced in news articles that their then-director of alumni and student programs, Arati Clarry, was no longer employed there after having an inappropriate relationship with a student.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, doesn’t identify the student, parents or the HPA employee by name, only referring to the student as “John Roe” and the employee as the initials “A.C.”
The lawsuit doesn’t specifically include the former employee as a defendant in the case, instead directing attention toward Hawaii Preparatory Academy, which the plaintiffs accuse of failing to prevent or investigate the alleged abuse as well as covering it up.
The complaint alleges that the employee groomed and sexually abused the former student, who was a junior at the school during the time spanned by the complaint.
One example cited is the employee’s apartment, which the complaint alleges the employee encouraged students to use for studying and “hanging out.”
“Upon information and belief, Hawaii Preparatory Academy was aware that (the employee) entertained students in her apartment,” stated the complaint.
No other “dorm parents,” the term used for employees responsible for supervising students, let students use their apartments for those activities, the complaint states.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges the school knew students were sleeping overnight in that apartment and that the employee slept in her bed with students.
“Despite this information,” the complaint states, “Hawaii Preparatory Academy negligently allowed (the employee) to serve as a Dorm Parent and to have unsupervised access to minor students overnight in the private apartment provided by Hawaii Preparatory Academy.”
Between February and March 2016, the complaint alleges more than a dozen instances of sexual abuse took place in the employee’s apartment.
Yet, the plaintiffs say, the school did nothing to prevent or investigate those incidents.
“Upon information and belief, Hawaii Preparatory Academy knew or should have known that A.C. was sexually abusing Plaintiff Roe in her apartment several times per week,” the complaint states.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges that the school covered up the abuse. After another dorm parent, “Ms. T,” reportedly saw the employee kissing the student, that employee reported what she saw. She was subsequently terminated, according to the documents.
“When confronted with evidence of plaintiff Roe’s sexual abuse, Hawaii Preparatory Academy chose to conceal the evidence by terminating Ms. T,” stated the complaint.
In a statement issued Thursday, head of school Robert McKendry declined to discuss the lawsuit, citing school policy.
“Once our school learned of the inappropriate conduct, the former employee was terminated and not permitted on our campus,” he said. “We have zero tolerance for behavior that betrays the trust between teachers and students.”
In April 2016, the school sent a letter to families informing them that one of their faculty members was no longer employed there. That letter named Clarry and said the inappropriate relationship was the reason the school terminated her.