Amherst Schools settle sex abuse case from 1986 for $1 million

Nov. 30—Amherst Central Schools paid $1 million to settle one of five Child Victims Act lawsuits that allege former assistant principal Jack M. Koch sexually abused high school girls decades ago.

The money was paid Nov. 12 to a Tennessee woman who alleged that Koch abused her in 1986 when she was 16 and attending Amherst High School, where Koch was employed as a school attendance officer.

Niagara Falls attorney Paul Barr said the settlement amount reflects the seriousness of the case and the damage done to his client.

"It was the school district that was clearly negligent in permitting a predator in the school to prey on young girls. In his wake, he left a lot of people harmed. My client is in some respects doing very well and in others she's got a lot of healing to do," said Barr, who along with New York City attorney Diane Paolicelli represented the plaintiff.

Koch denied he sexually abused the plaintiff but admitted in a court deposition that he dated and had sex with her shortly after she had graduated high school, when she was 18. He also admitted having sex with two other former students. The district denied it was negligent.

Koch, 73, began working in the Amherst district as a teacher's aide in 1973 and was assistant principal and dean of students for several years until his retirement in 2007. He currently lives in Canisteo.

The settlement was paid out of the district's general fund, which consists largely of property tax revenue. A district insurance policy for the time of the alleged abuse was with a company that was liquidated in the 1990s, so there was no liability coverage for the claim.

Four other cases alleging abuse by Koch that are still unresolved may be covered by insurance. However, the district had policies for that time with another company that currently is in liquidation. The liquidation has put those cases on hold.

The School Board, following a 90-minute meeting in executive session, voted 4-2 on Sept. 9 to approve a confidential settlement agreement. A stipulation of discontinuance, indicating that a settlement was reached, was filed in Erie County State Supreme Court on Sept. 28, five weeks before the case was scheduled for trial.

District officials and the plaintiff's attorneys initially refused to disclose the amount of the settlement when The Buffalo News reported earlier this month that the case was resolved. The News subsequently filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the school district, and Julia Hilliker, an attorney for the district, responded late Tuesday with the settlement amount.

District Superintendent Anthony Panella said the CVA cases "present unique and difficult challenges for school districts" because they often can't find documentation of insurance coverage policies from 35 to 45 years ago.

"And, even if documentation does exist, many insurance companies entered liquidation in the intervening decades. In the latter instance, that means that even if the district had insurance coverage decades ago when the alleged incident occurred, there are no insurance funds available to the district now," Panella said in a written statement provided to The News. "A CVA civil claim puts a financial burden on school districts and may result in difficult budgeting decisions in the future, therefore, we support advocacy efforts by state educational organizations to request state legislators to set up a fund to help uninsured school districts to pay CVA damages."

It's unclear what impact this case, which is among the first in the region to be settled since the Child Victims Act window opened in 2019, will have on other cases or on the district's finances.

Amherst school officials declined to comment beyond the prepared statement. The district of 2,910 students has an operating budget of $71.8 million for the current fiscal year. In addition to the Koch cases, the district is a defendant in three cases alleging abuse by English teacher Thomas Moore in the late 1960s and early 1970s and a case alleging that Trent Hariaczyi molested a 10-year-old student in 1999.

Across Western New York, at least 41 school districts face nearly 200 CVA lawsuits, alleging that students suffered sexual abuse decades ago at the hands of teachers, school administrators, coaches or other school employees, according to The News' examination of state court records.

Throughout the state, hundreds of school districts may have little to no insurance coverage on cases from decades ago, which potentially could result in property taxes going up, job cuts and program cuts to pay for jury verdicts and settlements in CVA cases, the deputy executive director of the New York State School Boards Association told The News in November.

Paolicelli said no amount of money can undo what her client went through but the settlement was "some level of vindication."

"My client is certainly relieved that this is over. What she suffered was a terrible ordeal throughout her life and having to relive it during the case was very, very difficult," said Paolicelli.

The plaintiff, 51, attended Amherst High School from 1984 to 1988.

She alleged in court papers that Koch began making advances on her in 1986 in his office behind a closed door, where he took advantage of her emotional and psychological immaturity and convinced her it would be OK to have sex with a man in his late 30s. Koch covered for the plaintiff when she missed classes and hid her absences from administrators as "a way of inducing intimacy and sex," court papers said.

He also admonished the plaintiff to keep their relationship a secret, flirted with her, took her out on dates, bought her gifts and professed his love, all the while "manipulating plaintiff" to have sex with him, according to court papers.

The plaintiff, identified as PB-15 in court papers, said in a deposition that Koch engaged in oral sex and intercourse with her on multiple occasions between 1987 and 1988 at hotels, in Koch's Ford Bronco, at the home of Koch's parents and at a colleague's home.

The plaintiff said in court papers that she suffered from trauma and depression related to the sex abuse and had to quit two jobs that paid well, resulting in a significant loss of income.

Barr said his client was reluctant to sue the district and initially came forward only as a potential witness for other women who had filed cases alleging abuse by Koch, not as a plaintiff herself.

She also contemplated dropping the case a few times, said Barr, but continued because "she wanted to make sure that Jack Koch and the school district were held accountable."

"She's definitely ready to put this behind her and move on with her life," he said.

___

(c)2021 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)

Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.