The Providence Public School district is reviewing safety protocols, after school administrators failed to report allegations of sexual abuse by a teacher to the state Department of Children Youth and Families.
The teacher, James Duffy of Warwick, was arrested Wednesday, and charged with assaulting three girls, ages ten and eleven, over the past school year.
Duffy worked as a gym teacher at Henry Kizirian Elementary school in the Smith Hill neighborhood of Providence. The school district said he was placed on administrative leave when the allegations first came to light in early May.
Duffy has been ordered to have no contact with the three girls or any persons under the age of 16. He’s set to appear in court again in September.
Acting Providence City Council President Sabina Matos is now calling for an independent investigation into why school officials failed to report the allegations to DCYF.
