Springfield agrees to pay over $14 million in child sex abuse settlement after teacher accused of rape

Local News

One lawsuit was settled for $1.8 million and the other for $13 million, the largest reported child sex abuse settlement in state history, lawyers said.

The City of Springfield settled two federal lawsuits for more than $14 million after a teacher was accused of sexually grooming middle school students, including repeatedly raping a child in empty school classrooms.

“These cases are not a result of one single failure, one missed opportunity,” attorney Laura Mangini told Boston.com, “but instead really demonstrate a chilling pattern and culture that enabled the abuser, Robert Gayle, and where the safety of children was minimized.”

Two families — represented by Mangini, Robert DiTusa, and Alexander Sneirson — filed separate federal lawsuits in Boston claiming that their middle school daughters, both identified as Susie Doe, were sexually abused by STEM Middle Academy teacher Robert Gayle and that the school reasonably should have known about his abuse.

One lawsuit, which alleged a Springfield seventh grader was repeatedly raped over the course of nearly two years, settled for $13 million — the largest reported child sex abuse settlement in state history, her lawyers said. The other, involving alleged sexual grooming and assault, settled for $1.8 million.

Gayle was arrested in May of 2023 and faces multiple charges of child rape, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and other related charges involving three separate victims in Hampden Superior Court. Both cases are ongoing, court dockets show. 

In a statement, the City of Springfield’s solicitor said the settlements “took into account the facts of the cases, the alleged harm perpetrated on the victims, and the liability the City would face at trial.”

“Families across the City entrust the school system to provide a safe environment for their children to learn and grow and that obligation remains a central focus,” City Solicitor Steve Buoniconti said.

The district has invested in training “so that all staff members are more educated on the signs of improper relationships between staff and students,” Buoniconti said. To prevent future harm to students, staff will report concerns to the authorities “right away,” he said.

Lawsuit: Springfield teacher targeted and groomed vulnerable students

Both students had recent losses in their families, which Gayle allegedly manipulated to get close to the alleged victims. In his class, he would give special treatment to female students, encouraging them to hang out around his desk, stay after class or during the lunch period, and give good grades, the lawsuit alleged.

One student, who was Gayle’s seventh grade student during the 2021-22 school year, was allegedly repeatedly raped by him in school classrooms, “always without a condom, and always ejaculating inside her,” the complaint alleges. The abuse continued for almost two years, lawyers claim, where Gayle would drive her home, text her sexually explicit photos, and solicit explicit photos and messages.

“There is no admission of liability by the school (in the settlement),” DiTusa said, “but I can tell you that paying $13 million is 100 percent an acknowledgement by the city that the allegations in the complaint were true and that the damage within the amount was in recognition of the damages that they knew happened.”

The other lawsuit, representing a seventh grader who was Gayle’s student during the 2022-23 school year, claimed there were “classic red flags and signs of inappropriate grooming behavior.” He allegedly grabbed her buttocks and would rub her shoulders and compliment her looks, the lawsuit said.

Both lawsuits claim that then-Principal Luis Martinez and a school counselor repeatedly ignored warnings, including from another teacher who reported Gayle was giving one of the students rides home. Martinez, who was named as a defendant, has since resigned, according to the lawsuit.

Springfield’s superintendent did not return a request for comment about Martinez’s employment status, but DiTusa said he is now employed as a principal in South Hadley. Martinez and his lawyer did not return a request for comment.

“You have a principal that’s putting institutional comfort over the safety of children, because it’s easier for the principal not do anything than to actually do what’s required of him by law, and do investigation and report to DCF and take all the necessary steps that are in place specifically to protect our children,” Mangini said. “If they’re not safe at schools, they’re not safe anywhere.”

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.