Readers react to a Chicopee High School teacher who is suspended and facing charges after being accused of having sex with and sending sexual text messages to a 15-year-old student.
05/2t/11 Chicopee-- Republican Photo by Mark M.Murray- Donald Cushing a teacher at Chicopee High School is escorted into Chicopee District Court for his arraignment Friday afternoon. CHICOPEE- Donald Cushing, a 59-year-old special education math teacher is facing four counts of statutory rape and two counts of disseminating obscene matter to a minor after a 15-year-old female student came forward with allegations that she had a sexual relationship with the man.
Cushing denied the charges in court on Friday and was ordered to be held in lieu of $150,000 cash bail.
The girl told police that after the cell phone number exchange, she began calling or texting Cushing every day, according to the criminal complaint.
Cushing routinely responded with text messages and calls of his own, she said.
In April and into May the girl told police that “things got very serious” and that they had sexual intercourse on the floor of the closet “three or four times,” the complaint states.
Cushing, of 645 James St., was removed from class Tuesday morning and questioned by police and school officials. He was verbally suspended later that day, School Superintendent Richard W. Rege Jr. said.
If he does make bail, he has been ordered to stay away from anyone under the age of 18 and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.
The school district is also moving to terminate his employment and have the state revoke his teaching license.
The story has stirred up a lot of emotions and the readers of MassLive and The Republican have been quite vocal in its wake.
Here is what some of our readers had to say about the developing story:
monstercamry86 says: I knew him very well he subbed as a teacher for me for a long time .... he was always the first to help people with their studies even outside of school. but he never was sexual towards anyone .... the evidence shows nothing to back this up no witnesses no text of sexual nature just her word versus him. this article sickens me that people jump on the bandwagon that he is a sexual predator .... people don't just wake up one day and say hey im a pedophile... there is no history of it with him and no real evidence.... and when i was in school with him he used to joke around with us guys but always very strict about gender respect. he at one time even gave me advice to not worry about women until i felt like it even though everyone around me were harassing me about it.
Itcf says: This is unbelievable. Is there anything in this guy's past that didn't show up before? It seems strange that a 59 year-old just woke up and started being a sexual predator. Will more kids start coming out? Does he have children?
tsirch says: Who agreed to a $150,000.00 for a guy with no prior record, ties to the community and family in the area. This guy is off to a bad start already.
kakistos says: The $150,000 bail is complete crap, seeing that Lisa Lavoie only had a $25,000 bail and she was charged with alot more than he was. Now the argument that her bail should have been higher is definately a legitimate one, but a judicial precedent was set. This is just a random question but has anyone ever sued because their bail was different than some who committed the same crime and had the same background...
freeearl says: Everyone shut up-- innocent until proven guilty. This man has a family. I'm sorry, but I don't necessarily trust 15 year old girls on their word.
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