WALNUT CREEK — A girl who was allegedly raped by the climate and culture supervisor at the Contra Costa School of the Performing Arts has filed a suit accusing administrators there of failing to act as employees and parents attempted to report his “grooming behaviors.”
The suit, filed in Superior Court by “Jane Doe” and her family, names the now-defunct Walnut Creek charter school and the former employee, Gerard Flaherty, as defendants. It alleges Flaherty “used his position of trust and authority to gain access to her, groom her for his sexual advances, rape/sexually assault, and impregnate her on school grounds in his office on campus.”
But before the alleged assault and the grooming behavior, the suit claims, a mother at the school brought concerns to Executive Director Catherine Foster that Flaherty had been looking “inappropriately” at her daughter’s body.
Foster’s response, according to the lawsuit, was to state definitively: “That would never happen here.” Foster didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Flaherty was arrested in May and charged with rape, unlawful sexual intercourse and assault, only to be released by a judge who found that freeing him from jail wouldn’t threaten public safety. The evidence against him includes a call recorded by police in which Flaherty allegedly attempted to convince the girl to get an abortion after she told him she was pregnant.
“I would go to jail if that happened,” Flaherty allegedly told her during the April 30 call, after Doe said she wanted to keep the baby. “They, they, they’ll do a DNA test … I just, it would, it would ruin so many lives.”
The suit gives a countdown to the alleged rape, discussing complaints allegedly made by parents and employees that Flaherty had been “giving special attention to minor female students, escorting minor female students to their cars during instructional hours, and entering rooms unannounced when female students were changing clothes.” There were also “rumors” that Flaherty was providing alcohol to students, according to the suit. Walnut Creek police say they did, in fact, seize beer bottles and empty “Buzz Ball” alcohol containers from Flaherty’s office, according to court records.
The day of the alleged rape, Flaherty told Doe that he was having a bad day because a parent had yelled at him, the suit says. He “forcibly embraced” her and she told him she was uncomfortable, the suit says.
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“Flaherty asked why she was uncomfortable since this is her fault, due to the way she dresses and looks at him. Flaherty began rubbing Plaintiff’s leg and reiterated to her that if anything happens between them, it is not his fault, it is her fault,” civil attorney Lauren Cerri wrote in the civil complaint. “Flaherty then forced himself on Plaintiff and engaged in sexual intercourse with her, repeating ‘This is so bad. This is so bad’ during it. He then transported Plaintiff from the COCOSPA campus to her house in his personal vehicle.”
Flaherty’s criminal case is inching forward, with a preliminary hearing tentatively set for Sept. 24. In it, a judge will review the prosecution’s evidence and determine whether there is enough for Flaherty to stand trial.
The same month Flaherty was charged, officials announced they were closing the school’s Walnut Creek campus due to lack of enrollment. After media outlets publicized Flaherty’s arrest, police say they received numerous tips from parents, including some that questioned how the school handled complaints about his behavior.
Flaherty has also been named as a defendant in an unrelated suit, filed earlier this year, by a Black man who claims he lost his job as a custodian at the school due to racial discrimination.