Private School Funded by Pedophile

Published on: Tue, 13 May 2008 17:08:06 -0700

New Paltz, New York - Dozens of parents have withdrawn their children from a private school in New York after learning it was founded with money donated by a convicted pedophile who lives on the school's grounds. To make matters worse, they say the director of "Maria's Garden Montessori School" knew the man's history, but didn't tell anyone. At least 30 parents have withdrawn their children from the school in New Paltz, New York. The history of Thomas Wanning, the convicted pedophile living on the school's grounds, only came to light after a parent spotted his name and address on a police website listing sex offenders. Nikki Garrett, the school's director, first explained the situation to parents as a "misunderstanding" and told them that she trusted Wanning with her own daughter. Many chose to keep their children enrolled, until they dug deeper and obtained court papers from Thomas Wanning's case that gave details of the molestation of a young boy and a line in Wanning's confession stating that victim "was not the first." The director claims she too was surprised by the details. "There was never anything done with the intention to deceive," Garrett said. Parents would go on to learn that Garrett founded the montessori school with a $45,000 loan from the sex offender. Garrett says she did it truly believing that Thomas Wanning was not a threat to the children. "I had seen his sincere efforts to work on himself and to better himself," she said. "People have trouble digesting this and understanding this, but I knew this person, I saw him on a daily basis." Thomas Wanning was asked to leave and did, but only for a couple of days. Now he refuses. The school started eviction proceedings, but Wanning filed a lawsuit claiming they had a verbal agreement of a lifetime tenancy contract. The school is still open while the issue is resolved.

Author: Aquaflyer
Keywords: pedophile private school funded founded maria's garden montessori new paltz thomas wanning sex offender
Added: May 13, 2008