Lawsuit: Visually impaired 8-year-olds were sexually molested in Garden City, Livonia schools

FOX 2 - A teacher and vision specialist is accused of molesting Danica Petty's legally blind 8-year-old daughter during an examination in 2018. at Douglas Elementary School in Garden City.  

"She was like, 'Mr. (name) did something inappropriate to me and my heart shattered,'" Petty said. 

A year later, the same story emerged with a different 8-year-old.  

"For any person, a child to have to deal with this is totally unfair," said Gabrielle Washington who says her daughter was also molested. 

The teacher - who we won't name because he's not charged - is accused in a civil suit first of massaging the child's breasts and putting his genitals in her hand.

And in 2019 with the second little girl he is accused of putting his genitals in her hands and near her mouth.  

The incidents were said to have happened while he was blinding them further with a device called an occluder in a room with no windows, and no other adults.  

"Once my baby said she was uncomfortable, he should have let her out of that room - instead he prolonged it," said Petty.  

When Petty reported this to Garden City schools, the teacher was let go for unrelated reasons. But Livonia schools kept him on, until a few months ago which they confirm in a statement - saying he's on leave:

"The employee who is named in the allegations is currently on administrative leave and has been on leave for several months. There will be no further comment from the district, as we are awaiting the results of the investigation currently being conducted by law enforcement."

"Both Livonia and Garden City schools failed to protect a vulnerable group of female students," said attorney Parker Stiner. 

Garden City police investigated the teacher after the first complaint - but the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office tells FOX 2 on Monday he was not charged for insufficient evidence.  

Now, the criminal case has been reignited when Gabrielle Washington's daughter told her about the incident last Christmas.  

"You pick up on your child's behavior," Washington said. "It was noticed by me, my entire family, other teachers."

"We don't think this started at 40 something for this man - he's been doing it for a while we believe that the evidence will absolutely show," said attorney Ven Johnson.  

Garden City Public Schools also released a statement saying: "The district is aware of the news story and allegations; however, the district is unable to comment at this time due to the sensitivity of the matter."

Both schools would not comment further with the criminal investigation pending.