New London

Former New London School Employee Accused of Raping Student

Recently unsealed court documents detail disturbing allegations against Corriche Gaskin when he was working at Bennie Dover Middle School as a behavioral specialist.

A former New London Public School employee is accused of violently raping a middle school student and ordering another student to perform oral sex on him, according to two recently unsealed arrest warrant applications in the case.

Corriche Gaskin, 35, is facing various charges including sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and child pornography charges.

Gaskin was employed as a behavioral specialist at Bennie Dover Middle School at the time of the alleged crimes, according to police. 

In an unsealed arrest warrant dated June 24, it states that in March 2019 police received a report that Gaskin had an ongoing relationship with a student that began in the 2016-2017 school year, when the victim would have been 13 or 14 years old.

According to the court documents, the victim initially denied having a sexual relationship with Gaskin, but said he showed her sexually explicit videos on his phone. She later told her mother that Gaskin raped her on two occasions.

In the victim’s interview with police, she said Gaskin called her into his office and told her to lift her shirt. When she refused, he pushed her onto his desk and pulled down her pants and underwear, forcing her into sexual intercourse. The victim said he also made her perform oral sex. She told police Gaskin threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

The victim also reported a second incident. She claimed Gaskin forced her into a storage room and blocked the door, then pulled down his pants and grabbed the victim by the neck, forcing her to perform oral sex.

The victim said these incidents happened when she was in seventh and eighth grade.

In another arrest warrant application, Gaskin is also accused of having oral sex with another student around the same age and recording it. According to the arrest warrant application, that victim told police Gaskin called her into his office and “pulled it out.” The victim told police that she then performed oral sex on Gaskin. She told police this was their only sexual encounter and she did not know he had recorded it.

Also in the documents, police say they found multiple searches on the suspects iPhone about the archival of Snapchat messages like, “can police retrieve snaps once removed?”

Gaskin was first arrested in April as a result of alleged criminal activity involving a student and was charged with risk of injury to a minor, police said. In May, he was arrested again and charged with sexual assault, possession of child pornography, voyeurism, disseminating voyeuristic materials and multiple counts of risk of injury.

Gaskin was placed on leave when the allegations first surfaced in March and fired after the second arrest, district officials said.

The allegations against Gaskin set off a large-scale investigation that led to the arrest of two other employees and prompted the New London school board to look into the district’s hiring processes. 

Police have not said exactly how the three cases are connected.

In a statement to the New London School Community Friday the superintendent said in part,

As our community continues to work through the aftermath of heart-breaking news from past events, NLPS remains committed to ensuring the well-being of our students. In addition to the highly-qualified and professional staff working in all of our summer programs, additional counselors will be available this week to talk with students and families as needed, at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School.

The statement goes on to say that the counselors will be available starting Monday July 8 through Friday, July 13 from 9 a.m. to noon. An appointment is not required.

“We have camps at the school and in New London. Children are talking with one another," explained Jennifer Messina, senior director of community relations at the New London-based Child & Family Agency. “You hear a lot on the news. You may hear your parents talking. It can cause a lot of stress, a lot of worry, a lot of anxiety.

Messina said while these are just allegations, the topic can be traumatic for children.

The nonprofit suggests talking and listening to your kids, and keeping an extra eye on them as it gets closer to the school year.

“The best thing parents can go is take care of their own mental health and be calm and maintain routines with children and notice any behaviors that may seem out of the ordinary," Messina said.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the New London Police Department’s Detective Bureau at 860-447-1481 or submit anonymous information through the New London Tips 411 system by texting NLPDTip plus the information to Tip411 (847411).

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