LEWISTON — Robert V. Connors Elementary School Principal Donald Ferrara Jr. on Saturday responded to allegations made against him in a protection order filed by a Dresden woman earlier in the week.
Ferrara’s attorney, Walter McKee, firmly denied all allegations and said his client plans to appeal the order. He also noted that the woman who filed the order has made unfounded claims about Ferrara dating back more than 10 years.
After a hearing Monday in District Court in Wiscasset, Ferrara was served with the order prohibiting him from having any contact with the woman. According to the order itself, the court found that there was evidence finding that Ferrara has engaged in conduct described in the document as “sexual assault,” although no charges have been filed in the case and there do not appear to be any active investigations.
The woman claims that Ferrara, now 54, sexually assaulted her more than 10 years ago when she was a student at Hall-Dale High School in Hallowell, where Ferrara was a vice principal.
Police investigations into the allegations have not led to any charges.
“Don has been crystal clear from the beginning,” McKee said. “He never did this. He was nowhere near where (the plaintiff) said he was, and he had witnesses that proved it. We are of course appealing the decision and when the truth comes out Don will be cleared.
“(The plaintiff) has made over a dozen, proven false allegations against Don over the course of more than a decade,” McKee said. “Many of them are just plain bizarre and obviously untrue. Each time she has made allegations against Don, law enforcement investigated the claims, along with other investigators, and they all found (her) to have completely lied. Every time.”
Ferrara, who also served as interim principal for both Longley and Martel elementary schools in Lewiston, was placed on paid administrative leave at Connors Elementary, according to Superintendent Jake Langlais.
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