NY AG report blames Babylon School administrators for decades of educator sexual misconduct
The finding follows an extensive, nearly five-year investigation by the Attorney General’s Office involving nearly 100 interviews and thousands of pages of documents.
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Nearly five years after News 12 first broke the story of sexual misconduct within the Babylon School District, the Office of the New York Attorney General is placing blame on school administrators for decades of unaddressed abuse.
The finding follows an extensive, nearly five-year investigation by the Attorney General’s Office involving nearly 100 interviews and thousands of pages of documents. Investigators revealed several instances spanning decades where school officials received reports of sexual harassment or misconduct by educators but repeatedly failed to respond adequately or at all.
According to First Deputy Attorney General findings, teacher misconduct became so normalized for both staff and students that it created an environment where other educators learned by example and engaged in similar behavior without consequence.
For former student Brittany Rohl, the report brings a sense of validation for a burden she carried for years. Rohl, who graduated from Babylon Junior-Senior High School in 2011, was 16 years old when she says she was groomed and sexually abused by her teacher. She first shared her story publicly with News 12 five years ago.
"It is really horrific, beyond comprehension in some ways," Rohl said. "And so I think that that might make it hard for some people to accept, but it's what happened."
While Rohl says the state report's findings are completely accurate, she noted that it brings no satisfaction to be proven right about the systemic failures that allowed the abuse to happen.
Document from the Attorney General's Office:
When Rohl spoke out in 2021, both former and current students came forward with their own accounts, including 2008 graduate Barbara Maier.
"It was so normal for us to have stuff like this happen," Maier said. "We almost became desensitized to it and numb to it."
"I think it's very accurate," Rohl said of the finding. "I was impressed that they went so far as to say that. It's very validating, but it's also something that I don't want to be right about."
The Babylon superintendent of schools condemned the misconduct and highlighted new safety measures. Those steps include a partnership with the Crime Victims Center offering staff and student training across all grades, weekly visits to the junior-senior high school, and an anonymous reporting infrastructure for students, staff and community members.
The state Attorney General's Office plans to release its full findings by the end of the year. The Babylon superintendent criticized the state for releasing limited findings to the news media rather than providing the final report directly to the district despite prior requests.
Click here to see a statement from Babylon Superintendent of Schools Carisa Manza.
