Cheverus Was Slow to Report on Malia
The sex-abuse allegation should have been reported immediately. It took two months for the school to contact DHS

By Peter Pochna
Portland Press Herald
March 10, 2000

[See other articles about Charles Malia.]

Cheverus High School did not follow state law when confronted in 1997 with an accusation of sexual abuse leveled against coach and teacher Charles Malia.

The school waited two months to contact the Department of Human Services and 11 months to contact the district attorney after receiving the initial allegation in August 1997.

By law, schools are required to contact both agencies immediately when a teacher is accused of sexually abusing a student.

Cheverus' handling of the Malia case has come under increased scrutiny since Malia admitted to the Press Herald on March 3 that he had sexual contact with students years ago. His statements came in response to allegations from some former students that Malia sexually abused them when he was their teacher and coach in the 1960s and 1970s.

"The law says to report immediately, which suggests something very quick," said Assistant Attorney General Christopher Leighton. He said he could not speak specifically about the Cheverus case, but that the appropriate agency to investigate the matter was the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office.

Added Leighton: "It's the better part of discretion to say, 'Well, I'm going to report.' "

The Rev. John Keegan, Cheverus' president, insists that the school did its best to properly handle the original allegation reported to Cheverus officials in 1997.

He said the school thought it was meeting its legal obligation when it informed the Department of Human Services of the accusation. He said the issue was complicated by the fact that the abuse was alleged to have taken place 25 years earlier.

Nevertheless, the law on reporting states in part: "When, while acting in a professional capacity, any person required to report under this section knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected by a person not responsible for the child, the person shall immediately report or cause a report to be made to the appropriate District Attorney's Office."

Cheverus also departed from what is considered general practice at other schools when it allowed Malia to continue teaching and coaching while an investigation of the accusation was under way.

Interviews with officials at other schools and a top social services provider show that when an accusation of sexual abuse is made against a teacher, schools typically place the teacher on administrative leave and call police.

"I'm not questioning whether Cheverus did the right thing, because I don't know the exact situation there," said Grant McGiffin, Falmouth's school superintendent. "I know I will typically take the teacher out of the classroom, until I have more information." Police also are called.

Cheverus did not place Malia on leave and did not call police. But if Cheverus was confused about its obligation to report to the district attorney as well as DHS, it is not alone. Other schools are also unclear about the reporting protocol.

Getting police involved

Lucky Hollander, vice president at the Cumberland County Child Abuse Council, said the law is a bit confusing when it comes to handling allegations of teachers abusing students. But she said that most schools realize the importance of getting law enforcement involved as soon as possible, whether it means calling the police or calling the district attorney.

She said Cheverus should have been more aggressive in handling the accusation against Malia.

"The disturbing thing is that they made a report (to DHS) and nothing happened and that's it," said Hollander. "Well, that's not it. You have to be forever vigilant; if you don't know the truth, you have to find out."

Robert Lyman, superintendent of Freeport schools, said that when he receives an allegation against a teacher he typically places the teacher on paid leave and calls police to investigate.

Both Lyman and McGiffin said they might not go to the district attorney, but that calling the police brings in an appropriate investigating entity. Police handle investigations for the district attorney.

The approach in Freeport and Falmouth is standard throughout Cumberland County, Hollander said.

Psychological test

Keegan said that the school allowed Malia to continue teaching only after he underwent a psychological test that determined he posed no threat to students. But the test was administered six months after the original allegation was made.

"I can assure you I wasn't trying to cover up anything," Keegan said. "I was trying to do what was right in a very difficult situation. We didn't know then what we know now."

Hugh MacMahon, the school's lawyer, declined to comment.

Malia, 55, taught and coached at Cheverus for 30 years. His track teams won so many state championships that he earned a spot in the National Amateur Sports Hall of Fame, and the school named its track after him.

The Press Herald last week asked him about accusations that surfaced in February, when several former students made allegations before the Legislature. The alleged victims also talked with police and agreed to interviews with the Press Herald.

"I have some guilt," Malia said in an interview with the Press Herald, when asked about the allegations. Later he added: "But I do know this: The behavior ceased a long time ago."

Malia's statements broke open a controversy at Cheverus that had been building since August 1997, when a former student told the school that Malia had sexually abused him.

Malia denied the allegation back then, but agreed to resign at the end of the 1997-98 school year.

After receiving the accusation, Keegan said that he talked to MacMahon and talked to Malia, who gave his denial.

The school and its lawyer also interviewed Malia's accuser.

In October 1997, Keegan reported the accusation to DHS. Malia was subjected to psychological tests in February or March 1998 to determine if he posed a threat to students.

Keegan said the tests determined Malia did not pose a threat.

The school reported the accusation to Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson in July 1998. Keegan said the delay resulted because he did not know he needed to report directly to the district attorney after making a report to DHS.

The school made the report to Anderson's office when another Cheverus teacher, the Rev. James Talbot, was accused of sexually abusing a student in 1984 and 1985.

During conversations with the District Attorney's Office about Talbot, the school mentioned the allegations against Malia, Keegan said.

(In the Talbot case, the English teacher and soccer coach was sued in 1998 for allegedly sexually assaulting Michael Doherty while Doherty was a student in 1984 and 1985. The school immediately suspended Talbot; the district attorney was contacted. The school also publicly disclosed the allegations to Cheverus parents and the media. Today, the lawsuit is pending. Doherty was 30 years old when he filed the lawsuit.)

Keegan said that in retrospect, he might have handled the Malia case differently by reporting it to authorities more quickly. But he said he did the best he could with the information he had at the time.

"I take full responsibility if I didn't report it the correct way," he said.

Launching investigation

Anderson, the district attorney, did not immediately launch an investigation into the Malia case. She said the unwillingness of the original accuser to make a formal complaint and the age of the charges led her not to pursue the matter.

In May 1999, after Anderson received a letter from Cheverus about a second person accusing Malia of sexual abuse, her investigation got under way.

The problem with not reporting the case to the district attorney earlier is that DHS typically does not investigate allegations of teachers abusing students.

Leighton of the Attorney General's Office said that DHS focuses on allegations of in-home child abuse by a parent or guardian.

DHS referred the case to the state Department of Education. But the Education Department didn't investigate because Malia's teaching certificate expired in 1971, said Yellow Light Breen, a department spokesman.

Malia was not required to have a teacher's certificate because Cheverus is a private parochial school. Private schools often don't require certification. The Education Department only has regulatory authority over certified teachers, Breen said.

Interviewing recent grads

Leighton said the appropriate agency to investigate the matter was the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office. He said schools are required to report allegations of teachers abusing students to the appropriate district attorney immediately.

Since Malia made his admission to the Press Herald, Cheverus has apologized and said it will remove his name from the school track. Malia was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation Saturday after the story was published.

Portland police have started to interview recent Cheverus graduates about Malia's behavior. He does not face criminal charges because the previous statute of limitations -- which had been six years -- has expired on all the known victims, police said.

Last year, a new law took effect that eliminated the criminal statute of limitations on sexual contact and abuse of a minor. The new law means that police can charge Malia for abuse that may have occurred after September 1993.

Staff Writer Peter Pochna can be contacted at 791-6329 or at: ppochna@pressherald.com.