Student sues teacher who admitted to rape and abortion coercion

A student and her mother have filed suit against a teacher who was heard on a wiretapped call admitting to raping the student and begging her to have an abortion.

Key Takeaways:

• Gerard Michael Flaherty was arrested in May after admitting to raping a student on a wiretapped call. During the phone call, he also begged the student to have an abortion.

• He was charged with rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, and assault of a student. However, he has pleaded not guilty.

• The student and her mother are suing Flaherty, as well as the school district for not intervening after concerning behavior had been reported.

The Backstory:

In May, Flaherty (43) was arrested after a wiretapped phone call between him and the student revealed that he had raped the girl. During the call, the student told him she was pregnant and would not be having an abortion. At that time, Flaherty was a teacher at the Contra Costa School of Performing Arts.

Flaherty panicked, and began urging the girl to have an abortion.

“I would go to jail if that happened,” he said. “They, they, they’ll do a DNA test … I just, it would, it would ruin so many lives.”

The student refused, saying she did not want an abortion, or agree with having one, but he refused to listen, and continued pressuring her, saying, “This is a little bit of a different situation.”

He then asked, “Can we get you scheduled with an appointment [for an abortion]?”

She agreed to meet with Flaherty, and as he drove to meet with her, police pulled him over and arrested him. However, despite the seriousness of his charges, which include forcible rape of a child over 14, Flaherty was released without bail.

He has since pleaded not guilty.

The Details:

The student and her mother have now filed a lawsuit against Flaherty and against Charthouse Public Schools, alleging that parents had complained to administrators about Flaherty's troubling behavior, yet no action was taken.

"This case highlights systemic failures in ensuring student safety and accountability,” said attorney Lauren Cerri, who is representing the student. “Schools, including this one, need to enact and enforce more robust policies and proactive measures to protect students from abuse.” 

Numerous students, including the girl who would eventually become his victim, had reported inappropriate behavior to school administrators, including to the school’s executive director, Catherine Foster.

Foster reportedly shrugged off the concerns, and one of the students who had complained about Flaherty left the school because she did not feel safe around him.

Foster still reportedly refused to take action when rumors began to spread that Flaherty was having an "affair" with a student, though as mandated reporters, she and other school administrators were required to report the situation to law enforcement or Child Protective Services.

A month later, Flaherty allegedly raped the student in his office; according to her, he gave her alcohol, said he was having a bad day, and after raping her, said it was her fault because of how she dressed and looked at him. He then allegedly sent her money to buy Plan B, and she told him she was pregnant in April.

Reality Check:

Abortion is frequently used by abusers as a means to cover up their crimes.

Live Action’s Aiding Abusers investigation exposed this reality, with one study finding 55% of sex trafficking victims were forced into abortions, with 30% having had more than one.

Planned Parenthood was the most frequent abortion facility abusers visited, because, as one victim explained, “Planned Parenthood didn’t ask any questions.”