LONG BRANCH — Two more lawsuits involving sexual assaults by former teachers have been filed against the school district.
The most recent suit was filed Jan. 8 in state Superior Court in Freehold by the guardians of the fourth victim of Gustavo Barrientos, a former middle school teacher here convicted of sexual assaults against minors. They have stepped forward and sued Barrientos, the Long Branch Board of Education and the George L. Catrambone Elementary school where he taught and where the assaults occurred.
Also named as defendants are several individuals or entities listed simply as “John Does” in the court documents.
The second suit was filed last month in Freehold by a now 47-year-old Ocean Township man who alleges he was sexually assaulted by a former substitute Steven Willis in 1992 and 1993. He is the second former student to bring a lawsuit against the district involving Willis.
Gustavo Barrientos, a former elementary school teacher in Long Branch, looks at one of his accusers as she read her victim impact statement. Barrientos was convicted for sexual assault.
Long Branch: Historic church flock is disappearing, jeopardizing this vital food pantry
Barrientos received a nine-year sentence to run consecutively after an additional eight-year sentence, along with fines and lifetime parole for endangerment of a child and inappropriate conduct with children.
Barrientos was accused by four victims, all of whom were previously his fourth- and fifth-grade students during various years. The victims were between 9 and 10 years old at the time of the incidents.
He was sentenced in August and the next month the guardians of three of the victims filed separate lawsuits against Barrientos, his employer the BOE, the Catrambone school, and several individuals or entities listed simply as “John Does.”
The four victims, who were only identified by their initials in the court documents, are seeking an undisclosed financial sum for compensatory damages, court and attorney fees and punitive damages. Each are represented by attorney Zlata Rudikh of Rudikh and Associates in Old Bridge.
Rudikh could not be reached for comment. The school district did not provide comment.
According to the lawsuits, the guardians each claim the victims were “seriously and permanently injured” by Barrientos’ actions. The guardians also claim that the injuries were caused “solely and wholly by reason of the intentional acts and omissions, negligence and carelessness” of each of the defendants, all of which the guardians claim had a duty to protect the victims.
Barrientos, 56, who resided in Tinton Falls, was arrested in February 2021 and charged with the sexual assault of a 10-year-old victim. Shortly after his arrest, three more victims came forward.
Willis, who according to court documents lives in Atlantic City today, hasn’t been criminally charged in either allegation of sexual assaults. According to public records, he is 66 years old. The Asbury Park Press was unable to reach him for comment.
In December, a 47-year-old Ocean Township man filed the lawsuit using the initials J.R. According to court documents, his identity is concealed due to allegations of sexual abuse when he was a child. J.R. alleges he met Willis when J.R. was living in Neptune and attending the Long Branch summer school program in 1992 and Willis was a teacher in the program. Willis then convinced J.R.’s mother, aunt and uncle to let J.R., whose stepfather had recently died, live at his home in Long Branch in order for the youth to stay in the school district.
According to the court documents, that is when the alleged sexual abuse occurred. J.R. was 16 or younger when the alleged abuse occurred, which according to complaints also involved underage consumption of alcohol and cannabis which was given to J.R. by Willis. J.R. is represented by Robert Fuggi Jr., of the Fuggi Law Firm in Toms River.
J.R.’s cousin also filed a lawsuit in 2021 that is still pending against the school against allegations of child sexual abuse by Willis between the years of 1992 and 1994 when he was a minor and a student at Long Branch public schools. His cousin is identified as E.R. in the court documents and is represented by the Herman Law Firm in New York City.
In both the lawsuits, the plaintiffs are seeking an undisclosed financial amount for compensatory and punitive damages, interests and attorney fees.
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Long Branch schools sued by two who claim sex abuse by former teachers