Grand Jury Weighing Criminal Charges Against Ex-Peabody Teacher

PEABODY, MA — A federal lawsuit by a former Peabody Veterans Memorial High School student was put on hold while an Essex County grand jury decides whether to indict a former teacher on sex abuse charges.

The former student, who is identified as John Doe in court documents, claimed in the lawsuit filed last year he was given drugs and alcohol and sexually abused by Lynette Occhipinti, a former educational assistant at the school, starting when he was a freshman in 1999. In its response to Doe's complaint, the city claims Doe did not alert school officials of alleged sexual abuse while he was a student.

Another former teacher was also named in Doe's complaint. The lawsuit against that teacher was dismissed in August. In addition to Occhipinti and the city of Peabody, the complaint names as defendants 10 school staff members whose names the man does not remember.

According to court documents, the criminal investigation started earlier this year but was put on hold when courts shut down because of the coronavirus crisis. The grand jury investigation was scheduled to resume in October. On Tuesday, the U.S. District Court in Boston granted a motion to stay, continuing the case until January.

"In the present action, both parties have considered the benefits and potential drawbacks of commencing with discovery during a pending criminal matter and have agreed their interests would be better served by waiting until the completion of the criminal matter before beginning discovery," the court said in Tuesday's ruling. "Since the parties have not begun discovery, if the criminal case results in a conviction, the parties may have fewer issues to litigate during discovery in this matter."

Doe has attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disabilities and received an individualized education plan when he enrolled in the school in the fall of 1999, according to the civil complaint filed last year. As part of that plan, Occhipinti was assigned to tutor him for one hour every school day. The lawsuit claims that Occhipinti invited Doe and an older student she tutored to her Salem home to use her tanning bed.

The lawsuit claims that Occhipinti and her then-husband Robert smoked marijuana with the two boys. They continued to visit the home twice a week to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol, according to the lawsuit. As Doe's grades improved, Occhipinti started tutoring him outside of school and on school breaks at her home, the lawsuit claims, adding Occhipinti would pull Doe from classes to take walks on the school property and would complete homework assignments for him.

During his sophomore year, Doe visited Occhipinti's house after breaking up with a girlfriend, the lawsuit said. Doe claims she kissed him and told him she had "real feelings" for him, according to the lawsuit. On a subsequent visit, she performed a sexual act on Doe, the lawsuit said. On another visit, when he was 15, she tried to force him to have sexual intercourse with her, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also claims Occhipinti gave Doe and other students prescription painkillers and that she and her former husband, Robert Occhipinti, gave and taught Doe how to inject steroids. Doe continued to use steroids throughout his time in high school. During his junior year, the complaint said, Occhipinti gave him cocaine after serving alcohol to Doe and his friends at a party at her house.

On another occasion, the lawsuit said, Doe and a friend visited Occhipinti at her summer home in New Hampshire. The lawsuit claims Occhipinti, who knew Doe was drunk, insisted he drive her two young sons to a friends house to get ice cream. Doe blacked out during the drive and the two boys had to drive the car home, crashing it into a bicycle in front of Occhipinti's vacation home, according to the lawsuit.

By his senior year, Doe said in his complaint, he was using the drugs Occhipinti had introduced him to on a daily basis. In addition to giving him drugs, Doe claims, Occhipinti gave him money and told him where and how he could buy drugs on his own.

"By the time JOHN graduated from high school, he was a full-blown addict," the complaint reads. The lawsuit claims that Occhipinti tried to continue their relationship for several years after he graduated in 2003. In 2005, Doe said he tried to break off the relationship with Occhipinti after her husband died in a Florida motorcycle crash. When he stopped returning her calls, she went to his parents' Peabody home, he claims.

While getting treatment for addiction, the lawsuit said, Doe disclosed his relationship with Occhipinti to mental health counselors in 2016.

"Occhipinti, an educator, deprived JOHN of an education, plied him with drugs and alcohol so she could sexually abuse him, and caused the addiction that has nearly killed him," the complaint said.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).