Victims in Plainville child pornography case claim town missed multiple warnings
Long before child pornographer Kyle Fasold was charged with secretly videotaping young girls changing in the Plainville High School gym locker room, town employees had gotten complaints about his suspicious activity at the school and at a community pool, according to depositions in lawsuits against the town.
The families of nine young swimmers and lifeguards who were taped dressing and undressing are suing the town for negligence, saying they’ve suffered emotional trauma because Fasold was able to surreptitiously photograph them for up to two and a half years.
A federal judge this winter sentenced Fasold to 25 years in prison for creating and distributing child pornography. Fasold extensively posted still photos and videos to the dark web.
The town maintains it is exempt from responsibility because it has governmental immunity, and it has noted that the Blue Dolphins operated as a recreational team that was not directly supervised by municipal workers. The town this summer asked a judge to dismiss the cases, but attorneys for some of the families recently filed documents showing what they maintain is proof that the town’s negligence overrides the immunity defense.
Town employees did not do enough when a women reported concerns about Fasold being discovered in the storage area with a camera or a separate report of him apparently surreptitiously photographing a girl at a community pool, according to attorneys for the victims.
In addition, the town didn’t respond properly when a girl complained about Fasold leaving a gym bag in the locker room with his phone’s camera pointed outward, or when a mysterious hole appeared in a posterboard that had been put up to block a window facing into the locker area, they said.
But in each instance, municipal employees at the time acknowledged those complaints and appeared to take at least some action — meaning the town was aware of the problem, but missed opportunities to end it, according to the attorneys.
A year before Fasold was arrested, town recreation worker Dylan Fusco reported a concern, attorneys Paul Iannaccone and Ryan Sullivan of the RisCassi and Davis firm wrote in a court motion in July that cited Fusco’s statements in a deposition.
“Mr. Fusco witnessed Mr. Fasold sitting in one of the chairs next to the pool with his phone at a strange angle— directed toward a young girl who was taking off her ‘overgarment’ to get into the pool. When Mr. Fusco walked by, Mr. Fasold quickly put his phone against his chest in a ‘very, like, anxious” manner.
“Concerned, Mr. Fusco notified his supervisor (Kelly McCabe) and the pool director (Megan Farmer). They discussed the incident but decided not to confront Mr. Fasold or take any further action,” according to the motion.
A year before that, parent Jessica Lagassey and her daughter were using the girls locker room at the high school to get changed when Lagassey noticed someone move a large white posterboard on the storage room side of a connecting door. According to Lagassey’s deposition, she also noticed it had been torn, and she reported what happened to a swimming instructor and the town’s aquatics supervisor, Kim Crowley.
Lagassey said she and her daughter started using the coach’s bathroom for changing, but encountered a new concern.
“On one occasion, in February of 2018, while they were using the coach’s bathroom, Ms. Lagassey’s daughter opened the door to the storage area. Ms. Lagassey was alarmed to see Mr. Fasold in the storage room by himself with his phone in his hand,” according to the motion. “Mr. Fasold seemed surprised and told
Ms. Lagassey that he was on a call and that the storage room was the only place in the pool area
where he could find cell service. Ms. Lagassey found this behavior deeply concerning and immediately notified Ms. Crowley.”
A town employee wrote up a work order to put a colored or textured plexiglass window in the door.
“The instruction to use plexiglass was not followed. Instead, as noted by the police department and Homeland Security when they inspected the storage room, the town had simply taped a piece of black construction paper to the posterboard so as to cover the hole,” according to the motion. “Investigators concluded that Mr. Fasold likely removed the construction paper to record girls in the locker room and placed it back on the posterboard when he was finished.”
After Fasold’s arrest in 2020, then-Town Manger Robert Lee learned of Lagassey’s earlier complaints, according to the motion. “Mr. Lee spoke with Ms. Crowley, who confirmed that she had received a complaint from Ms. Lagassey about Mr. Fasold’s presence in the storage room and an issue with the posterboard barrier on the window. Ms. Crowley told Mr. Lee that she spoke with Mr. Fasold after the incident, and he denied having anything to do with the hole in the covering.”
A hearing is scheduled Sept. 11 for several of the cases.
