A lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court against Fraser Public Schools and a staffing firm for their failure to properly investigate, notify parents, and remove an auditorium manager contracted through Edustaff for his sexual relationship with a student.
Edustaff is a national education staffing leader based in Grand Rapids that employed and contracted with 25-year-old Robert Lindsay II. Lindsay was recently sentenced for a sexual relationship he had with a 14-year-old girl at Fraser High School.
The lawsuit alleges that Fraser High School Principal Ryan Sines and Choir/Music Director Nicholas Charland were aware of an “inappropriate relationship” between the two as early as January 2023, when they met with him about “appropriate boundaries” and failed to properly document a meeting with him about his behavior or place him on leave.
The next month, other staff members came forward with concerns about female students that were not addressed. Assistant Principle Lindsay Samassa became aware of these concerns in September 2023. Soon after, school counselor Stacy Kalpin noticed the pair sitting too close together, flirting, and meeting alone in the high school auditorium. Title IX Coordinator Kerry Terman then met with Lindsay. Lindsay maintained his innocence, and parents were still not notified of the warning or investigation. Lindsay resigned at the end of that month.
It wasn’t until October 2023 that Sines and Charland reported the matter to authorities, after a vocal coach reported the pair was having a sexual relationship. The pair had sexual intercourse at school and at Lindsay’s home for nearly 10 months before the authorities were notified.
Lindsay was arrested on October 20, 2023, and eventually sentenced to five counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. He is serving a sentence of up to 50 years. The victim has suffered severe psychological and emotional distress as a result of the abuse and has since switched schools.
The lawsuit alleges the school committed a violation of Title IX and gross negligence for being “deliberately indifferent” to the known sexual harassment and abuse, as early as January 2023, when they discussed appropriate boundaries with Lindsay.
The lawsuit also lists a violation of Due Process, First Amendment Retaliation, as Samassa allegedly told the victim not to discuss the incident at school, and a violation of Michigan’s Elliott Larson Civil Rights Act.
The lawsuit alleges Edustaff additionally failed to perform appropriate background checks, provide proper training, supervise and monitor Lindsay, or report inappropriate behavior.
Could this sort of lack of oversight and background checks be contributing to the rise of child predators in Michigan schools? I’ll be following this one closely.
Anna Hoffman is a hockey mom of three living in Ann Arbor. Follow her on X @shoesonplease.
