JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (The video above is from a previous report)
A St. Johns County school at the center of two lawsuits alleging inappropriate sexual contact by teachers has filed a motion to dismiss one of them.
Nine parents, on behalf of nine minor children, originally served Chappell Schools, LLC, with a complaint containing ten alleged counts that include negligence and vicarious liability on behalf of the school.
The parents of students at the Longleaf campus preschool say the children were molested by former assistant teacher Anthony Guadalupe and the school did nothing.
However, Chappell Schools previously stated that the facility had "been transparent as possible" when it came to investigation.
In the motion to dismiss, filed Sept. 29, Chappell Schools says that the allegations against the school do not provide 'sufficient factual support' that the school knew about the alleged abuse.
The motion also alleged that the complaint "makes sweeping allegations of misconduct during Guadalupe’s entire period of employment at Chappell" rather than specific allegations.
The school says the plaintiffs fail to identity specifically what minor child suffered which type of abuse, whether multiple abuses occurred to certain children and on how many occasions the alleged abuse occurred.
Guadalupe, 18, was initially arrested in July for allegedly molesting a 4-year-old girl at the private preschool’s St. Johns County campus.
He worked there between February and July 2022.
His bond was revoked a week later, after prosecutors say classroom surveillance footage showed a “brazen” assault on the child during parent pickup.
The additional lawsuit not referenced in this motion also names a second teacher who was allegedly involved in the same type of abuse at the same school.
The teacher has not been arrested, so First Coast News is not naming him at this point. According to the report, he moved to teach in Germany in February 2022.