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A girl alleges in a civil lawsuit that she was sexually assaulted last year in a Skaneateles High School bathroom. A boy was charged.
(Provided photo)
Update: OCM BOCES says it should not be named in Skaneateles abuse lawsuit
Skaneateles, NY -- A girl with special needs was sexually assaulted a year ago in a Skaneateles High School boys' bathroom by a male classmate with special needs, according to a lawsuit filed this week in state Supreme Court.
Joshua Cannon, then 17, is accused of dragging the girl into a bathroom stall and sexually abusing her April 17, 2013, according to the lawsuit, brought by the victim's family. The victim is not identified in the lawsuit.
The classmates were in an Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES program for students with special needs, the lawsuit stated.
Cannon was arrested two days later and charged with felony criminal sexual act, as well as unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a physically disabled person, both misdemeanors. He was sent to jail with $50,000 bail.
Two mental health workers later determined that Cannon's own disability -- which was not named in the lawsuit but included "violent and aggressive tendencies" -- made him incapable of understanding legal proceedings.
Cannon was transferred to a state mental health facility, where he remains locked up to this day, said Chief Senior Onondaga County Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio.
OCM-BOCES and the Skaneateles school district did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The Onondaga County Sheriff's Office, which made the arrest, declined comment.
The lawsuit described the assault this way:
Teacher Randy Liberty, from OCM-BOCES, instructed Cannon and the victim to return their lunch trays to the lunchroom without supervision.
Cannon forced the victim into a boys' lavatory and locked the stall behind him.
After an unspecified amount of time, the teacher and others started to wonder where Cannon and the victim were.
A witness said a girl had been dragged into the boys' bathroom and was crying in a stall.
Liberty and other employees entered the bathroom and were forced to climb over the locked stall.
Inside, Liberty found both students with their pants off. The victim was in "horrific distress," the lawsuit stated.
The Skaneateles School District notified the victim's parents of the assault.
The family filed a notice of claim against the district July 1, 2013. A hearing was held Sept. 24, 2013.
No settlement could be worked out, leading to the lawsuit filed Monday. The victim's lawyer, James Fleckenstein, did not return calls this afternoon.
Named in the lawsuit are OCM-BOCES, Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, the Skaneateles and Moravia school districts and Randy Liberty. Cannon is a former Moravia Central School District student.
A woman who answered the phone at Liberty's residence said she didn't know anything about the case.