A Duxbury teacher facing allegations of abuse has been fired.
The parents of former student Parker Foley filed a lawsuit alleging that John Blake had sexually abused their son while he was a student at Duxbury Middle School.
Superintendent John Antonucci says these claims were investigated by the Duxbury Police Department, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, the Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Although the District Attorney’s office decided not to file charges, Antonucci says they hired their own investigator who wasn’t “able to find direct evidence of sexual abuse, but did conclude that Mr. Blake violated District policy.”
With that finding Antonucci says that termination proceedings began and that “Blake’s employment with the District terminated on April 1,2021.”
Antonucci also mentioned that there were other complaints filed against Blake including one in 2017 regarding Blake’s treatment of players as a hockey coach, which was not found to be credible.
A 2019 complaint from a student who claims that Blake had made the student feel “uncomfortable” in gym class, and that he was “creepy”. That claim was investigated but says they couldn’t substantiate the claim, and were unable to take any personnel action.
The Foley family also filed an anonymous complaint in 2018.
Parker Foley died of a drug overdose last year.
Photo Credit: Duxbury Public Schools.
