Case against former Montville substitute teacher pushed to July
The case against the former Montville High School substitute accused of supervising classroom fights was continued Wednesday until July 25.
Ryan Fish, 23, pleaded not guilty in May to multiple charges connected to a handful of slapboxing matches in his math class between September and October.
Police in April alleged Fish allowed and encouraged the bouts, some of which were filmed by students and posted on social media.
Fish appeared in court Wednesday before Norwich Superior Court Judge Nuala Droney, with his attorney Paul Chinigo and prosecutors agreeing on more time to review evidence in the case.
Chinigo told Droney that Fish had attended counseling sessions and complied with bail conditions.
In an interview, Chinigo said it was too early to determine whether Fish, who does not have a previous criminal record, would apply for accelerated rehabilitation. Accelerated rehabilitation is available to defendants charged with certain crimes if the court thinks they won't commit crimes in the future. Applying for accelerated rehabilitation seals the case and requires no admission of guilt but could require defendants to meet conditions such as restitution, community service or counseling.
Fish declined to comment.
Earlier this month, attorneys for three Montville school administrators charged with failing to report the fights to authorities as required by law said they would not seek accelerated rehabilitation and instead would push for their cases to be dismissed.
Superintendent Brian Levesque, Principal Jeffrey Theodoss and Assistant Principal Tatiana Patten on June 7 pleaded not guilty to failure to report suspected abuse under the state's mandated reporter statute. They are on paid leave and due back in court July 23.
Levesque fired Fish on Oct. 10, a few days after receiving videos of a classroom fight and confirming it took place in Fish's class. Students involved were disciplined, school officials said.
The Department of Children and Families began investigating the incidents in December, when a student told a DCF social worker he was beaten and robbed at the high school. DCF then alerted police and referred the case to the state's attorney's office.
Multiple students told police they looked up to Fish and considered him a mentor. No students were seriously injured in the fights, but police said the fighting left one student with mental trauma and another with a bloody nose. Another student vomited into a trash can as a result of the fighting, police said.
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