WARWICK, R.I. — A District Court magistrate this week cleared a Cranston High School West psychologist of a charge that he failed to fulfill his legal obligation to report allegations of sexual abuse to the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
District Court Magistrate Joseph P. Ippolito Jr. acquitted George Blessing, 49, of 80 Midland Drive, Cranston, of the single misdemeanor count Wednesday after a bench trial in which the state called three witnesses to the stand, said Blessing's lawyer, Jason Knight.
It is the first trial involving the state's failure to report law since that law was revised in 2016 in the wake of the abuse scandal at St. George’s School in Middletown.
The law now specifically addresses schools, requiring that anyone who has reason to suspect that a child has been sexually abused “by an employee, agent, contractor or volunteer of an educational program” must report to the DCYF, which must in turn alert the police and conduct its own investigation.
"He had his day in court and he's exonerated," Knight said, adding, "I really believed in this case from the beginning. I don't think it should have been charged."
Ippolito found the disclosure by the victim did not meet the criteria that mandated a report to the DCYF, according to Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, which prosecuted the case at the request of Cranston police.
The Cranston police arrested Blessing in April.
Cranston Police Chief Michael Winquist said at the time that the police received a complaint March 24 from school administrative staff “indicating that a female student had reported that a male science teacher had assaulted her.”
The investigation revealed that the same student had previously reported the assault to a school psychologist, identified as Blessing, on or about Feb. 1, he said.
The teacher, later identified as Charles Pearson, was subsequently arrested and charged with 12 counts of second-degree sexual assault. Pearson, 59, a science teacher at Cranston High School West, has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, John E. MacDonald, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The police Special Victims Unit investigated the alleged sexual assault of the student who spoke with Blessing and learned that there were three other students, 14 to 16 years old, who were allegedly assaulted between October 2016 and March 2017.
The police accused Blessing of failing to report the allegations of the student with whom he spoke. He did not divulge this information until school administrators and detectives approached him on March 24, according to Winquist.
According to Knight, the student told Blessing that Pearson had slapped her buttocks in public, and accused Pearson of bullying and intimidating behavior toward her in general — such as calling her dumb and stupid.
Blessing "tried to ameliorate" the student's concerns, Knight said, "but it didn't occur to him that the touching was sex abuse."
The law specifies that the school official must have a reasonable suspicion that sex abuse has occurred and, if so, report the matter to the DCYF with 24 hours, Knight said. In Blessing's case, what the student told him didn't rise to the reporting level, Knight said.
Knight said he challenged the law unsuccessfully pre-trial as being unconstitutional due to vagueness. As written, it requires a school official to "guess what sex abuse means," he said.
Cranston Superintendent of Schools Jeannine Nota-Masse said she could not comment on Blessing's status or how the will matter will proceed, as it is a personnel issue. Calls to the Cranston teachers union were not returned Friday.
Two other school administrators face a similar charge, one who is expected to head to trial in the coming weeks.
Violet LeMar, principal of Kizirian Elementary School in Providence, is expected to go to trial Jan. 16 on a charge that she failed to report allegations related to a gym teacher who was later accused of child molestation.
Colleen Mercurio, principal of Cedar Hill Elementary School in Warwick, is accused of failing to report student-on-student abuse.