Hundreds of parents express outrage over Bethany sexual assault allegations
BETHANY, Conn. (WTNH) — A meeting to address concerns over a town employee’s alleged sexual assault arrest turned heated and emotional in Bethany Tuesday night.
Parents petitioned for town officials to hold the special meeting where the first agenda item called for the Director of Parks and Recreation to hold a presentation discussing protocols and actions taken to protect kids in the town’s care.
The video below aired on July 23.
This came after multiple sexual assault allegations involving young girls against a former elementary substitute teacher and counselor.
The first complaint against 25-year-old Anthony Mastrangelo came in December 2022.
Town officials said the superintendent immediately removed him, but he remained an employee at the Parks and Recreation’s after-school and summer programs for an additional six months, working with students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Parents said they were never notified of the 18-month investigation and only found out after Mastrangelo’s arrest this past June.
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First Selectwoman Paula Cofrancesco also said she knew nothing up until June, but Board of Education member and mother of one of the alleged victims Amy Lestinsky doesn’t believe her.
“The words out of our first selectwoman’s mouth were ‘this will ruin him.’ She knew, she knew and I’m sorry but as a parent who has been personally affected, you knew something,” said Lestinsky, mother of an 11-year-old alleged victim.
Hundreds of parents packed inside the town hall as public comment drove the special meeting over three hours, ending after 10 p.m. Every enraged question was fueled by applause, but most went unanswered as Parks and Recreation Director Janice Howard didn’t show up to give the scheduled presentation.
Cofrancesco said the director’s attorney advised her not to come, infuriating parents.
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The board is considering disciplinary actions against Howard, but parents Tuesday called for her to be fired and for the first selectwoman to also step down.
When asked by parents, Cofrancesco admitted she is friends with the accused and the Mastrangelo family. She added when Mastrangelo was fired from Parks and Rec, her husband’s firm hired him, then let him go when he was arrested a couple months ago.
Jillian Nugent worked at the department with Mastrangelo for eight years and said she flagged his inappropriate behavior to managers.
“(He was) quite touchy with female staff and would often greet me by rubbing his hands on my lower back but most importantly I told my superiors that I was concerned that Anthony Mastrangelo was far too hands on with specifically with the young girls,” Nugent said.
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Nugent said she was in charge of the program slideshow and looking back recently at the photos, was unsettled by what she saw.
“The most shocking image was of a girl with special needs laying down on top of him on a couch,” Nugent said.
First Selectwoman Cofrancesco said the Parks and Recreation Department has made several changes since the arrest, like enhancing background checks and installing cameras to the annex.
“Some policy changes, where they make sure the kids are no hands-on, no piggy backs, no sitting on laps,” she said.
Parents passed a motion at the meeting to ask the Finance Committee for up to $75,000 to obtain independent counsel to investigate the town’s handling of the investigation and failure to notify potentially impacted families.
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The state said they can’t release any further information because of the active investigation.
Mastrangelo’s attorney told News 8 the charges are exaggerated and “his innocence will prevail.”
Confranesco declined to speak to media after the meeting.
There will be another Board of Selectman special meeting Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. to discuss taking disciplinary action or terminating the director of Parks and Recreation and assistant director based on their response to the Mastrangelo allegations.
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