This article by Ed Damon was published in the Bennington Banner on March 7, 2017.
[B]ENNINGTON — A teacher at a local independent school has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he assaulted and was cruel to a student during an alleged incident that prosecutors are treating as a hate crime.
The incidents are alleged to have taken place at the Southshire Community School, an independent school in North Bennington, during the 2015 and 2016 school year, according to court documents. The student is now 10 years old.
Jude T. Fitzgerald, 47, of Brattleboro, pleaded not guilty in Vermont Superior Court Bennington Criminal Division on Monday to a felony charge of lewd and lascivious conduct, as well as single misdemeanor counts of cruelty to a child under 10 years old and simple assault.
Alexander Burke, deputy state’s attorney for Bennington County, said the two misdemeanor charges carry hate crime enhancements. The maximum penalty on the child cruelty charge is five years in jail, a $10,000 fine, or both. The maximum penalty for the simple assault charge is two years in jail, a $2,000 fine, or both. The lewd and lascivious conduct charge carries a maximum penalty of five years, a $300 fine or both.
Michael Munson, an attorney representing Fitzgerald, said there is no evidence the alleged incidents were motivated by the student’s race and that he intends to file a motion to dismiss all charges. Munson also said he argued against probable cause for the lewd and lascivious conduct charge on the grounds that the charging documents did not provide evidence that the alleged incident was sexual in nature.
Munson said there has been “an outpouring of support” from families in the school community, some of whom attended Fitzgerald’s arraignment, attesting to his client’s “good judgment and good character.”
“We don’t believe there are any merits to these allegations,” he said.
Judge William D. Cohen did find probable cause on the lewd and lascivious conduct charge. Among Fitzgerald’s conditions of release were that he not have any contact with anyone under the age of 16 unless supervised by an adult. Fitzgerald will return to court on April 28.
According to an affidavit by Bennington Police Detective Anthony Silvestro, an investigator with the Bennington County Special Investigations Unit, the parents first contacted police in November. Silvestro wrote that, when he interviewed the child at the Bennington County Child Advocacy Center on Dec. 1, he was told Fitzgerald “did something bad to him that really made him scared.”
When he asked for help with an assignment one day, Fitzgerald allegedly told him, “no you can do this and if you can’t you’re not as smart as I thought you were.” The student told police that he got angry and told Fitzgerald, “the only dumb one is you,” the affidavit states.
Fitzgerald allegedly came up to the student at lunch later that day when the student was “laughing and yelling loudly.” Fitzgerald then “whispered in his ear to shut up,” the affidavit states. Fitzgerald then took the student to another room upstairs. “How does that feel,” the teacher said, allegedly addressing the student using the N-word.
At one point, Fitzgerald said he wanted to tell him something and went to whisper into his ear. Fitzgerald then grabbed part of the student’s hair and started to pull him before grabbing the student’s genitals and pulling both at the same time. Fitzgerald allegedly told him “that is what you get for saying I’m dumb you idiot” and allegedly said he would kill him if he ever told anyone.
The student told Silvestro that he didn’t tell anyone about the incident until recently and that he didn’t feel safe. He said he was having flashbacks of what happened.
“Southshire is aware of the charges Mr. Fitzgerald is facing and he has been placed on administrative leave while the school continues to gather information,” said Beth Wallace, chairwoman of the school’s board. “The school is unable to comment further on personnel matters. Southshire has always and will continue to put the health and safety of its students above all else.”
