Scandal Rocks Babylon Schools: NYS AG Uncovers Rampant Teacher Misconduct

A five-year investigation by New York State Attorney General Letitia James has revealed that the Babylon school district failed for decades to address sexual harassment allegations against teachers, fostering an environment where "educator misconduct proliferated with impunity." The detailed findings, outlined in a letter drafted to the Babylon community and exclusively released to Newsday, assert that administrators routinely disregarded complaints, forcing "generations of parents and students [to resort] to a whisper network of warnings about certain educators." Consequently, parents removed children from specific classrooms, and students saw potential sexual harassment as an "uncomfortable condition of their education." The investigation concluded that "educator misconduct was normalized for both staff and students," with the district failing to comply with state and federal laws prohibiting harassment and discrimination and mandating an adequate response to complaints.

The Attorney General's probe effectively corroborated the powerful testimonies shared by multiple women during an emotional, hours-long school board meeting in November 2021. This meeting served as a turning point, sparking public reckoning and initiating the state investigation. Former students and parents at the Babylon auditorium accused school administrators and board members of neglecting their duty to protect students from sexual misconduct and grooming behaviors by educators over several decades. Brittany Rohl, who was the first woman to publicly allege educator misconduct leading up to the 2021 meeting, expressed validation upon hearing the Attorney General’s findings. "After being let down by the institutions for so many years, I kind of can’t believe it ... that kind of nails everything that we’ve been talking about," said Rohl, 33. Similarly, Babylon alumna Jaycee Angello Slawson, 34, found the Attorney General's description "validating," stating that "everything they described there was to a T." The reference to a "whisper network" particularly resonated with her, calling it "unbelievably true."

The Attorney General's letter highlighted that the women and their parents who spoke at the public board meeting were "emboldened to share their experiences in the hope of spurring the district to action, but were met instead with a response they described as dismissive, discouraging, and hostile." Rohl recounted flying from Florida to attend after being denied a virtual speaking option. In response, Babylon superintendent Carisa Manza issued a statement condemning "the behavior and culture of permissiveness and predation that former students brought forward in 2021," calling it "despicable." Manza claimed that administrators have spent the past five years "establishing a new culture that puts the safety of our students first" through measures such as revising adult-student fraternization policies, partnering with the Crime Victims Center for staff and student training, creating a Citizen's Advisory Committee focused on school climate, and hiring an "external monitor" to ensure compliance with harassment complaint laws.

Attorney General James stated that her office heard the victims' courage and took it seriously. The investigation involved interviewing nearly 100 people, reviewing thousands of pages of records, and examining the conduct of over a dozen educators and administrators spanning several decades, culminating in more than 100 pages of findings. James's office presented these findings to the Babylon district "well over a year ago," initiating negotiations for a deal to reform district policies governing staff-student relationships and complaint investigations, as well as seeking formal monitoring of the district’s performance. While these talks have led to some policy reforms, including "ensuring appropriate interactions and relationships between adults and students" and the hiring of an executive director of human resources, a final deal has not been reached. The Attorney General's office insists that the district "must commit to implement other critical reforms, sustain the new practices and procedures, and comply with OAG monitoring as those reforms take effect."

James blamed Babylon for the year-plus delay in closing the investigation, alleging the district has "slow-walked the process at every step and questioned the need for reforms we believe to be necessary given our findings." Superintendent Manza, however, took issue with this characterization, expressing her perplexity. She asserted that the district has "worked collaboratively with the Attorney General’s office to update our policies, protections, and practices to ensure student safety, often going above and beyond what that office has requested." Manza also noted that despite providing investigative materials nearly five years ago, the district has "yet to see a final report on her office's findings." She criticized the Attorney General's office for releasing limited findings to the news media instead of directly to the district, welcoming the release of the final report to identify further areas for strengthening student and staff protections. The Attorney General's office presented its final offer to Babylon this month, with a spokesperson declining to specify potential ramifications if no deal is reached, though a lawsuit to compel reforms remains an option. The Attorney General plans to release its full 100-plus-page report by the end of 2026.

In the five years since the pivotal 2021 board meeting, state records indicate that six former teachers have surrendered their state educator licenses. Citing privacy laws, the state Education Department declined to specify the reasons for these surrenders. One such teacher, Timothy Harrison, was placed on paid leave around the time of the November 2021 meeting. Suffolk police arrested Harrison in March 2022 on charges of raping a student, and he subsequently pleaded guilty in September 2023 to endangering the welfare of a child for having sex with a 15-year-old student in 2013. Prosecutors also alleged he had sex with an 18-year-old student in 2012, an allegation that did not lead to charges as the student was above the age of consent. Harrison, who spent nearly two years on paid leave, was sentenced to three years’ probation. James's letter explicitly stated that by "not holding individual educators accountable and failing to broadly communicate zero tolerance for educator misconduct, the district created a heightened risk that those educators would continue to engage in misconduct — which they did." Investigators documented how former students who experienced misconduct suffered "deep and lasting anxiety, confusion, shame, and emotional distress," leading to a loss of trust in adults, withdrawal from academics, and even quitting beloved sports. These former students felt betrayed not only by the educators who crossed boundaries but also by district leadership who appeared to disregard or tolerate the widespread problem. Rohl reiterated her feeling of betrayal by district leadership, hoping that "everyone who was complicit really reflects on their role because there's no denying it now."