Officials unveil pilot program to fight sexual harassment, assault in Babylon schools

Suffolk officials are teaming up with a Ronkonkoma crime victims advocacy organization to launch a pilot program in the Babylon Union Free School District aimed at assisting students and their families respond to sexual harassment and assault, County Executive Steve Bellone announced Thursday. 

The program was developed after officials received numerous complaints last year about sexual harassment and assault by current and former teachers at Babylon Junior-Senior High School, according to Laura Ahearn, executive director of the Crime Victims Center, which provides counseling and support to survivors of violent crime. The pilot program will include a CVC victim advocate who will assist students and their families who reported sexual assault and navigate the criminal justice system.

Babylon Junior-Senior High School student Ava Rossler said students at her school need more information about sexual harassment and assault. 

“I think they should bring up the issue more because it happens,” the eighth-grader said. 

Ahearn said at least 20 victims have reported sexual misconduct by 10 teachers to the Crime Victims Center. Some of those allegations date back to the 1980s.

“I am in awe of the courageous individuals who have come forward, both former and current students, to tell their stories,” Bellone said at a news conference in Hauppauge. “I can only imagine how challenging and scary and painful it is to share these stories publicly, and I just want to say to those individuals that your strength and your bravery is inspiring.”

Bellone said he hopes the program, which will be fully implemented by the fall, will be copied by New York State and other school districts. 

Allegations of sexual misconduct at Babylon Junior-Senior High School surfaced shortly after teacher Jeffrey Kenney was placed on leave in late October. Kenney was not criminally charged, but he resigned on Nov. 8 after reaching a settlement with the district that required him to surrender his teaching licenses and never seek work in schools again. 

Allegations against other teachers became public after the victims posted accounts on social media and spoke before the school board on Nov. 15. New York Attorney General Letitia James launched an investigation into the allegations later that month. Babylon teacher Timothy Harrison was charged with two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual act in March. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Ahearn said providing a crime victim advocate to students helped fill a gap: Teachers are represented by unions and school officials are represented by attorneys, but there is currently nobody available to assist students and their families. The pilot program will also include education and prevention efforts and a team of “student ambassadors” who will help raise awareness about sexual assault. 

Babylon Alumni and Allies for Change, an advocacy group for individuals who say they were abused by district employees, called the initiative “a positive step forward.” 

“BAAC is cautiously optimistic about the pilot and looks forward to learning greater details about the program,” the organization said in a statement, adding that it is important to include sexual assault survivors in the development of institutional responses to sexual violence. 

Some of the Babylon sexual assault victims contributed to the development of the program, Ahearn said.