IL & OH - Teacher sued for sex abuse

• Teacher sued for child sex abuse
• He’s also an ex Boy Scout leader & coach
• Suit alleges multiple abuses against two teens
• Victim support group urges school to remove him
• SNAP urges school districts to “find others who may have been hurt”

What
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will
--Disclose a new civil lawsuit filed against a current teacher at Foreman High School who has already been convicted of child abuse in the past, and
--Demand answers from the Chicago Public Schools and Rossford Schools about how – despite his child sex conviction – he was able to become a teacher.

They will also urge school officials to immediately seek out any current or former student who may have been victimized by this teacher and urge them to call police.

WHEN
TODAY, Thursday, November 1 at 1:00 pm

WHERE
Outside the Chicago Public School headquarters, 74 W. Adams Chicago, (NOTE: official address is 125 S. Clark St but we will be on Adams St side of the building) / Outside the Rossford School District Headquarters at 601 Superior St, Rossford, OH 43460-1247, just across the river off I 75

WHO
One of the victims in the lawsuit and two or three members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a Chicago woman who is the founder and president of SNAP.

WHY
A new lawsuit has been filed against a Chicago public school teacher for allegedly abusing two teens when he taught in Toledo Ohio in the 1970s.

Harold (Jerry) Mash now teaches at Foreman High School in Chicago. In 2005, he was named as “Teacher of the Year.” Prior to working at Chicago public schools, Mash worked as a teacher in the Toledo public schools and then at Rossford schools outside Toledo in OH, where he was fired after being convicted of abusing a child. He was also a swim team, wrestling and basketball coach.

In 1976, Mash was convicted of child abuse in Wood County, Ohio and served a six-month suspended sentenced, after the termination of which he moved to Georgia, and then Iowa, where he was found guilty of assault and battery.

Beyond working as a teacher, Mash has also worked as an administrator, a coach, and a Boy Scout leader. One of the plaintiffs in this case is the victim Mash abused for which he was convicted in 1976. The lawsuit alleges that Mash purposefully chose all of these roles in order to groom children for abuse.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, believe Mash’s history indicates that he is a danger to children and should not be working in the Chicago public schools, where he would reasonably be able to groom and hurt more children.
SNAP is calling on administrators at Foreman High School and Chicago Public Schools to immediately terminate Mash from his position and to launch an investigation into their hiring practices and controls.

They also want school officials to reach out to all current and former students who were enrolled while Mash was employed and determine if any had been victimized.