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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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City Hired Known Molester, Family Says

LITCHFIELD, Conn. (CN) - New Milford hired a known sexual predator to coach its Parks and Recreation youth swim team and work as a lifeguard, allowing him to sexually assault children, a family claims in Superior Court.

The family claims that the New Milford Barracudas coach knew that Josh Hinman had been convicted of sexually assaulting a child in a swimming pool.

Hinman was awaiting service of a New York arrest warrant for violating probation when he was allowed to be the team's assistant coach, according to the complaint. The town went so far as to tell parents that Hinman "was a perfect role model for the children," in a newsletter, according to the complaint.

The family claims that co-defendant Jeanne DiGiacomo, the Barracudas' coach, let Hinman coach the team "and live in her home until he was taken into custody by the police."

The city's Parks and Recreation Department also employed Hinman as a lifeguard, giving him access to minor children at Lynn Deming Park Beach, according to the complaint.

It adds that DiGiacomo, the beach manager, "had actual knowledge at the time of Josh Hinman's employment at Lynn Deming Park beach that he was a sex offender on probation and a condition of his probation was that he was to have no contact with minor children."

The Doe family is represented by Frank Bevilacqua with DePanfilis and Vallerie in Norwalk. They seek punitive damages from Hinman, DiGiacomo, New Milford Parks and Recreation, and three city officials: the mayor, the head of Parks and Recreation, and the personnel director.

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