Attorney Matthew Faranda-Diedrich, who is representing Country Day students, confirmed Wednesday he would file a notice of the families' intent to sue by Thursday morning but would not confirm the number of Country Day clients he is representing.
Faranda-Diedrich, an attorney with the law firm Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld, said the reasons for filing the lawsuit were the same included in a letter he sent to Country Day's board of trustees Monday that was obtained by LNP-LancasterOnline. He confirmed that letter was received by the school but it has not been responded to in writing nor has the school agreed to requests made in the letter.
In the letter, parents threatened to sue the Manheim Township private school unless Head of School Matt Micciche and board of trustees President Angela Ang-Alhadeff resigned in 48 hours.
That 48-hour deadline passed Wednesday afternoon without any confirmation from the school that any administrators would resign. When asked by LNP-LancasterOnline if any administrators planned to resign Wednesday, the school forwarded an email communication sent to families Monday that doesn't communicate any plans for resignation by Lancaster Country Day staff.
Micciche didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
In the letter, parents allege that Micciche, as a state mandated reporter, should have reported to police when he received a Safe2Say Something tip in November 2023 alerting him to the presence of child sexual abuse and pornographic material. Through the online anonymous tip service, run by the state attorney's general office, students, parents and staff can submit tips and concerns about potential youth violence.
Police did not begin investigating until a second allegation was made against the student who created the AI-generated images. That student was removed from the school and their phone was seized by the Susquehanna Regional Police Department in August.
Adults who are considered mandated reporters are required to report suspected child abuse if they have reasonable cause to suspect a child is a victim of abuse. Not doing so is a criminal offense in Pennsylvania as the letter to the board cites.
And, in an amendment to the Child Internet Protection Act enacted in 2004 and referred to in the parents' letter to the board, legislators replaced the term "child pornography" with the term "child sexual abuse material" that requires public schools and libraries to take measures to prevent children from accessing obscene material.
As stated in the letter to the board, that amendment acknowledged the already illegal nature of deepfake pornographic and abusive material stating "the unauthorized dissemination of an intimate image is unlawful in the Commonwealth."
Parents allege that the board of trustees — directed by Ang-Alhadeff — failed to report or take corrective action in response to the AI incident, resulting in the creation of additional AI-nude images following the submission of the initial Safe2Say tip in November 2023. According to the letter, the parents believe over 50 students are confirmed victims and there are additional perpetrators responsible who have not yet been removed from the school.
The school told an LNP-LancasterOnline reporter Friday that police identified 46 victims — 38 current students and eight former student — which is more than twice the number of victims, 22, initially identified by police.
A spokesperson with the Lancaster County Prothonotary Office confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the office rejected an incomplete filing against the school but expected to receive a completed filing Thursday. Faranda-Diedrich said it was rejected because there was a concern pertaining to student confidentiality with his initial filing.
'HEAR US. ACKNOWLEDGE US. SEE US.'
The letter sent on behalf of parents and victims followed a walkout Friday by most of the 225 students in the upper school. The students in the grade nine through 12 school voiced dissatisfaction with administration's handling of the AI incident by walking out Friday, chanting "Hear us. Acknowledge us. See us."
In a meeting with students prior to Friday's walkout Micciche acknowledged "something awful has happened in our community" and apologized for any missteps by the administration in navigating the situation. Classes started later for upper school students Monday and multiple counselors were made available to students on campus that day.
"We hope to re-earn the trust of those for whom that bond has been broken by listening to you and your student's concerns, answering your questions, and working together towards a greater sense of safety and care," Micciche wrote in an email to families Friday.
Jenny Gabriel, head of the upper school, resigned in September. At the time Micciche shared that he and Gabriel had begun preparing for her departure over the summer.
ATTORNEY LETTER TO BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Dear Trustees,
Please be advised that this firm has been engaged to represent the interests of many of the students who have been victimized by the egregious failures and willful misconduct of school leadership. My clients have an overriding focus on maintaining the safety of their children, and also want to ensure the continued future success of LCDS. The safety of these children was entrusted to school administrators, and by extension to you as trustees of the institution. Unfortunately, Matthew Micciche has provided the full Board with only limited details surrounding the school's handling of the November 2023 and May 2024 child pornography images. As Board members, you have a fiduciary duty to ensure the leaders of LCDS are protecting and acting in the best interest of these victimized children, and therefore you must be fully informed.
In November 2023, mandated reporter Matthew Micciche received a credible Safe2Say tip alerting him to the presence of child sexual abuse, and pornographic, material. After a cursory internal investigation, no actions were taken. Mr. Micciche was alerted again in May of 2024, and, again failed to act. Both times he failed in his responsibilities to immediately contact law enforcement. Mandated reporters are required to report — period — regardless of whether they personally believe a claim is substantiated or not. In Pennsylvania, it is a criminal offense for a mandated reporter to willfully fail to report abuse, and those individuals can be charged with a second or third degree felony. See 23 PaCSA §§ 6311, 6319. For a long time, it has well established under both state and Federal law that the creation and dissemination of child sexual abuse material, including child pornography, is illegal. See 18 PaCSA § 6312; 18 U.S.C. § 2256(8)(C). Indeed, when amending the law involving child abuse material in 2024, the sponsor of the bill emphasized the already illegal nature of so-called deepfake pornographic and abusive material, stating "the unauthorized dissemination of an intimate image is unlawful in this Commonwealth."
Despite the longstanding and clearly illegal nature of the child pornography and sexually exploitative images, school leaders did not act on a tip related to the images, and they also failed to report and stop the abuse. Even after the school received a second report in May 2024, it was only after a parent contacted Manheim Township Police that an investigation finally began. In addition to these failures of school leadership, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, both collectively and directly through Board President Ms. Ang-Alhadeff, was notified of the failures to report, multiple times and by multiple parents. No corrective actions were taken at that time. Due to this widespread failure of leadership, many more students were exploited with additional images being created after November 2023. It is now believed that over 50 LCDS students are confirmed victims. Of course, as you know, the authorities' investigation is ongoing, and this number may increase. My clients also have reason to believe that there are additional perpetrators who have not yet been removed from LCDS.
Due to these stunning failures to keep children safe, the complete lack of leadership over the past year, and a failure to abide by mandated reporter requirements of Pennsylvania law, my clients are hereby requesting the following:
(i) That Matthew Micciche be immediately placed on administrative leave.
(ii) That the Board accept the resignation of Matthew Micciche and Angela Ang-Alhadeff, President of the Board, along with any other mandatory reporters that knew about, but did not act on, the Safe2Say tip. Absent such resignations, the Board should call a "Special Meeting" by written request of five (5) Board member trustees consistent with the LCDS Bylaws, and at such a meeting exercise its power to remove Mr. Micciche as an employee, and Ms. Ang-Alhadeff as an Officer and
Trustee. The removal of Mr. Micciche, and the removal of Ms. Ang-Alhadeff as an Officer may be accomplished through a simple majority vote. Ms. Ang-Alhadeff's removal as a Trustee will require a vote in favor by two-thirds (2/3rds) of all current Trustees.
(iii) That LCDS undertake attorney-run mandated reporter training for all Board members, leaders, faculty and staff.
(iv) That LCDS employ a full-time certified resource officer trained in these matters, to act as Director of Security and better ensure the safety of LCDS students.
(v) That LCDS hire a reputable IT forensics firm to determine where precisely the offending images have been sent and/or current reside.
(vi) That LCDS provide third-party counseling services from a reputable provider, available at no charge to all victims during school hours.
(vii) That LCDS commit to provide all necessary support for victims, whenever requested.
(viii) That no further interaction with victims occur without prior written parent consent. My clients are requesting commitment by the Board to these requests within the next 48 hours. If the Board does not promptly and fully act in the best interest of its students, my clients will be forced to pursue claims to the fullest extent of the law in order to obtain the relief mentioned above, and to seek damages on behalf of the 50 plus (and counting) child victims. Any such action would unavoidably involve not only LCDS but all others acting in their official capacities.
It is important to note that neither Ms. Ang-Alhadeff nor any other member of the Executive Committee have been included in this communication because of their clear conflicts of interest related to the requested actions, including Ms. Ang-Alhadeff's requested removal as an Officer and Trustee of LCDS. All members of the Executive Committee should likewise be ethically walled off from any deliberations or votes regarding these topics.
Last, LCDS and all its officers, trustees, employees and agents (collectively the " LCD Control Group ") are hereby given notice not to destroy, conceal or alter any paper or electronic files, other data generated by and/or stored on computer systems and storage media, or any other electronic data, such as voicemail and text and voice messages stored on cellular phones. This includes, but is not limited to: email and other electronic communications; word processing documents; spreadsheets; databases; calendars; telephone logs; Internet usage files; offline storage or information stored on removable media; information contained on laptops or other portable devices; and network access information. Electronic documents and storage media on which they reside may contain relevant, discoverable information beyond what may be found in printed documents. Thus, even where a paper copy exists, the LCDS Control Group should also preserve all documents in their electronic form along with metadata or information about those documents contained on the media.
My clients trust that as leaders of LCDS you will act consistent with your fiduciary duties to protect and act in the best interests of 50 plus victimized children. They deserve nothing less.
Finally, kindly direct all future correspondence related to this matter to my attention.
Very Truly Yours,
Matthew Faranda-Diedrich, Esquire
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