Parents file lawsuit after Southlake preschool teacher arrested for indecency with a child
TARRANT COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) – Two parents and their two children have filed a lawsuit against a Southlake preschool after a teacher there was arrested for indecency with a child.
The parents have filed the lawsuit against the Carpe Diem Private Preschool, where their children attended school, and Thaddeaus Davidson, the teacher fired for allegedly sexually assaulting children there.
Davidson was arrested for two counts of indecency with a child in October.
In addition to the school and Davidson, the parents included in the lawsuit the school's leader, Marie Fetterman as well as the Lionheart Children's Academy and its director, Sarah Castaneda.
The lawsuit says Fetterman had prior knowledge of Davidson's actions, as Fetterman worked with him in the past at Lionheart.
The lawsuit continued to say that Fetterman failed to tell parents that Davidson had committed child abuse when he was employed at Lionheart. Lionheart fired Davidson in July.
The lawsuit says "Lionheart, however did concede in a communication to parents of children who had attended Lionheart that it identified "two suspected child abuse concerns [involving Davidson] that should have been reported when they were brought to the Academy Director Sarah Castaneda's attention" before Davidson's arrest for transgressions at Carpe Diem, and that "in light of this information, [Lionheart] terminated her employment with Lionheart."
The parents filed the lawsuit for two reasons – "to obtain answers about how and why predator Thaddeaus Davidson was enabled, empowered and emboldened by others to obtain access to helpless children at Carpe Diem, and to hold the responsible parties accountable for allowing him to do so."
A spokesperson from Carpe Diem told CBS 11, "We have not been served with the complaint. While litigation is pending or active, we are unable to share any additional details."
According to the lawsuit, "Carpe Diem consistently has been defensive and unresponsive in its reaction to questions raised by parents and the public in the aftermath of Davidson's arrest."