The mother of a 11-year-old Bloomfield girl is suing the town claiming that its recreation staffers didn’t protect her daughter from a sexual assault at the town pool and didn’t take sufficient action after she reported the attack.
The girl was 9 in the summer of 2023 when two teenage boys anally raped her with a cylindrical plastic swim toy while she was playing in a town pool, according to the lawsuit.
Town staff was supposed to be keeping unauthorized people out of the pool, but failed to do so, the suit contends. And after the victim reported the attack, the pool staff decided not to notify supervisors or contact the police, it said.
When asked for comment on Thursday, Town Manager Alvin Schwapp replied that Bloomfield has a policy against speaking about pending lawsuits. He did not respond to a question about whether the town still employs the three workers named in the suit.
When the lawsuit was filed two weeks ago, Hartford Superior Court Judge Lisa Morgan granted the mother’s request to shield the girl’s identity. All public documents in the case refer to the mother as Julia Doe and the daughter as Jane Doe.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Kaitlyn Malcynsky, wrote that the girl was part of a town-sponsored youth camp that was swimming at municipal pool on Park Avenue when the attack happened July 17, 2023.
The lawsuit accuses three employees of Bloomfield Parks, Recreation & Leisure Services with negligence: Tiara Owens, the camp director; Shelden Brown, the assistant director; and Kiania Slaughter, a camp counselor assigned to oversee the campers.
“While playing in the shallow area of the pool with other young campers at approximately 1 p.m., the minor plaintiff was approached by two teenage boys,” the suit states, describing the alleged abuse in detail. “When the plaintiff cried out, the teenagers laughed before leaving the area.”
The suit claims that neither Owens, Brown, Slaughter, nor any other town workers were adequately supervising the minor campers and didn’t intervene during the assault.
“After the incident, the minor plaintiff spoke with defendant Slaughter to tell her what had occurred. Defendant Brown, who was also meant to be supervising the swimming children, observed the conversation and discussed the incident with Slaughter,” according to the lawsuit. “Neither Slaughter nor Brown nor any of the defendants informed the minor plaintiff’s mother of the sexual assault, nor did they report the incident to police.”
Neither Slaughter, Brown nor Owens could be reached Thursday. Brown shares a home address with Suzette DeBeatham-Brown, who was serving on the town council at the time. DeBeatham-Brown did not respond to a message Thursday.
“Brown was further informed by the minor plaintiff as to who had assaulted her, as the 9-year-old identified the two teenagers as they exited the pool area, identifying them by their clothing as she did not know their names,” the suit states.
“Brown was familiar with both boys as she had previously taught them,” the suit states. “She determined that she would not report the incident to her supervisors, and decided not to call the police. She further decided not to fill out an incident report for the sexual assault incident, though she knew she was required to do so per the protocols of the camp and common sense.”
The two boys didn’t have permission to be in the pool, but staffers did not remove them even after the assault, the suit contends.
“During the time in which this incident occurred, the pool area was crowded with both campers and members of the public, yet neither the town of Bloomfield nor BPRLS, nor defendants Slaughter, Owens, or Brown increased staffing to adequately supervise the children under their care,” the suit states.
The lawsuit includes a statement from the girl saying “My friend and I told defendant Slaughter what had occurred, but she did nothing. Slaughter told defendant Brown, who came up to speak to me. I identified for her the two boys who had sexually assaulted me. Later, when my mother arrived to pick me up, I told her what had happened and she called the police. It is my understanding that the boys were later arrested.”
The suit also lists the two teen boys as defendants. There are no court records indicating criminal convictions or pending cases against them.
The lawsuit contends the girl suffered emotional, behavioral and psychological damages from the attack, and has required psychiatric therapy. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages along with reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees. Morgan has scheduled a March 12 hearing.