Content Warning: This article contains detailed accounts of sexual abuse of minors. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
A lawsuit filed in a Connecticut Superior Court accuses the founders of Square Foot Theatre Company, Jared Brown and Patrick Laffin, of carrying out years of grooming and sexual abuse against a former performer, beginning when he was a child. The theatre company itself is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Counts in the complaint include negligence, reckless and wanton conduct, assault and battery, and both negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The plaintiff, identified only as John Doe to protect his privacy, states that he began performing with the theatre company in 2007(when it was previously named the Jared Andrew Studio) at just nine years old. It was during that time that he states that he viewed Brown and Laffin, who are married to each other, as “trusted teachers and mentors.” From that time forward, Doe claims, Brown and Laffin began grooming him through their positions as leaders of the commuinty theatre organization.
According to the complaint, the abuse escalated in September of 2015, when the co-founders allegedly invited Doe(who would be approximately 16-17 years old at that point) and other minors to their Hamden, CT home for social gatherings and overnight stays. The filing contends that the men supplied alcohol to the boy and then subjected him to repeated sexual assaults, including coerced sexual acts and exploitation alongside other minors.
The lawsuit also accuses Square Foot Theatre Company, of reckless conduct in its handling of abuse allegations. According to the complaint, the organization is alleged to have deliberately disregarded reports that Brown and Laffin were sexually abusing minors and hosting children for overnight stays at their home.
