A principal and superintendent in New Jersey who stands accused of raping a 9-year-old girl with autism has again been sued by another family, who claim that he made a student expose herself and then touched her inappropriately.
Frank Vanalesti, 63, was first sued earlier this month in federal court in a 29-count, 87-page complaint for allegedly abusing a 9-year-old who was in second grade at his school. That lawsuit claims that between 2011 and 2015, Vanalesti—who was dating and living with the girl’s mother—routinely barged in on the girl while she was in the bathroom, watched her shower, molested her and then vaginally raped her.
Vanalesti still serves as superintendent at Ocean Gate School District, according to its website. An attorney for the school board, Christopher Supsie, told the Asbury Park Press that the accusations “are emphatically denied” and said they “were thoroughly investigated by a state agency and were determined to be without merit.”
Though the complaint only identifies Vanalesti by his initials, the woman’s notice of tort claim identifies him by his full name, according to the Press.
The girl said in the lawsuit that she lives in “constant fear” as a result of the abuse, even after moving states. Her family has asked for unspecified damages from the superintendent and the district.
“We are hopeful that the prosecutor’s office will reopen any criminal investigation that may have been closed," the family’s attorney, Robert R Fuggi Jr., said at the time.
But in a second suit filed on Tuesday, a 19-year-old woman claims that when she was an 8-year-old student at the school in 2008, Vanalesti made her expose herself and then hugged her, according to a complaint.
Fuggi, who also represents the family in the second lawsuit, said the alleged perpetrator was also serving as principal and superintendent at the time of the encounter, which is when Vanalesti was working in those capacities.
Police probed the new claims in an investigation 11 years ago, but Vanalesti denied asking the student to lift up her shirt and denied touching her at all. After police consulted with the Ocean County prosecutor’s office, authorities reportedly determined that “no crime had occurred.”
On the other charges, Supsie told the Press: “In 2008, those allegations were investigated by a law enforcement agency and were found to be without merit by that agency. In addition, no criminal charges were ever filed from 2008 through to the present date.”