Director of Bethany Parks & Rec criticized for response to allegations of sexual assault by employee

BETHANY, Conn. (WTNH) – One Bethany town official is currently on leave and another has resigned following a lengthy Board of Selectmen meeting Wednesday night.

It was the second evening in a row that the town hall meetings discussed the treatment of an employee who was accused of child sexual abuse.

Hundreds of parents express outrage over allegations of sexual assault against Bethany

This is about how various people in city government handled the case of Anthony Mastrangelo, who parents said stayed in a job dealing with children after being accused of child sexual abuse.

Last night, the City Council discussed whether to take disciplinary action against the director and assistant director of the Parks and Recreation Department.

Mastrangelo was a substitute teacher when the allegations first came forward. He was then transferred to Parks and Recreation, where he continued to work with children in afterschool and summer programs and allegedly abused more children.

Bethany after-school counselor arrested after lengthy sexual assault investigation

Last month, he was charged with molesting a total of five children. Mastrangelo was also a family friend of the first city councilwoman, Paula Cofrancesco.

On Wednesday evening, Cofrancesco took some responsibility for the incidents.

“I’m not going to mince my words. As your first councillor, I have let you down, the responsibility is mine and I recognise that, but we have to move on. The only way to do that is to recognise and understand the landscape of our organisation, our local government,” she said.

Bethany parents demand answers after former city employee faces sexual assault allegations

“I always assumed that there were no problems with our parks and recreation department because everything worked without any known complaints. But that was a false assumption on my part,” she continued.

Her parents demanded her resignation, but that did not happen.

What actually happened was that Parks and Recreation Director Janice Howard and her assistant director Anthony Cofrancesco were placed on leave, effective immediately. The City Council then received a letter of resignation from Howard.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit WTNH.com.