A New York City man who was repeatedly sexually assaulted by his elementary school music teacher in Brooklyn during the early 1970s has won a landmark $18 million jury verdict against the city — with disturbing new details emerging about how the now-deceased educator allegedly suffocated the child to silence him during one of the attacks.
Background
The abuse occurred at P.S. 15 in Red Hook, where John Clark served as a music teacher. According to court records and reporting from the New York Times, parents first raised allegations against Clark in December 1970. Rather than remove the teacher, then-principal Edwin Gardner transferred the alleged victim — identified only as A.P. in court documents — out of music class while keeping Clark at the school under supervision.
Gardner told parents he would monitor Clark to prevent further incidents, but additional abuse allegedly occurred anyway, according to attorney Jeff Herman of Herman Law, who represented A.P. The principal's assurances proved hollow: months after the initial allegations surfaced, parents organized a school boycott that was "90 percent effective," the Times reported at the time.
A 1971 Daily News article documented how one set of parents sued the city for $2 million over the handling of the case. Clark was eventually arrested and pleaded to a lesser charge, serving only five years probation, Herman said. Gardner died suddenly of a heart attack shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
The Investigation
Decades passed before A.P., who grew up in the Red Hook Houses, found the courage to pursue legal action under the 2019 Child Victims Act — landmark legislation that extended New York's statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims. Herman's firm investigated the case and uncovered never-before-public details about the attacks.
During one particularly egregious assault, Clark allegedly violated the then-10-year-old with his finger for approximately 30 minutes inside the P.S. 15 auditorium while classmates sat nearby in darkness during a movie screening. When A.P. tried to cry out and scream, Clark placed his hand over his mouth — effectively suffocating him — before continuing the molestation.
"He's never come out of the auditorium," Herman told the New York Post. "It took away a future for him — he always wanted to be ordinary and he struggled."
Herman's team also located documentation from school board meetings where parents confronted officials, with one attendee reportedly stating that the only response to molestation allegations was to "slap the teacher on the hand." Investigators tracked down the mother who first reported the abuse in the 1970s; at age 89, she agreed to testify at trial.
The Verdict
On June 26, a Kings County Supreme Court jury awarded A.P. $18 million — marking the first lawsuit under the Child Victims Act to reach a jury verdict. More significantly, jurors found that city officials acted with "recklessness" in their handling of Clark and the allegations against him, making the municipality liable for the full amount rather than relying on partial indemnification.
"They felt the principal turned a blind eye to the safety of these kids to the point where the parents had a boycott of the school," Herman said of the jury's reasoning. "This result is a historic acknowledgment that survivors deserve justice."
Key Takeaways
- John Clark, the music teacher accused of abuse at P.S. 15 in Red Hook, has passed away and could not be tried criminally
- The victim, known as A.P., was a third-grader when allegedly assaulted; he is now an adult who waited nearly five decades for justice
- The $18 million verdict represents the first jury award under the 2019 Child Victims Act
- Jurors found city officials acted with "recklessness," making New York City liable for the full amount
- Parents organized a 90-percent-effective boycott of P.S. 15 in 1971 after learning the school kept Clark employed
What's Next
A city spokesperson indicated the administration is reviewing the verdict and considering its legal options. Herman has signaled his intent to continue pursuing similar cases on behalf of other alleged victims who may have been abused at P.S. 15 or other schools where institutional failures allowed predators to remain in classrooms.
"Even though these cases are older, they're still entitled to justice," Herman said. Additional civil claims under the Child Victims Act window — which temporarily suspended statutes of limitations — could follow as more survivors come forward.