A Middletown Superior Court today received a psychological report on the former special education teacher charged with having a longtime sexual relationship with her former teenage student, according to the Hartford Courant.
Christine Powell, 39, of Middletown, is free on bond and due back in court Aug. 14. She pleaded not guilty on Feb. 22 to second-degree sexual assault of a minor.
The contents of the evaluation were not made public, the Courant reports, but her lawyer, John D. Maxwell, said he intended to use its findings to defend Powell.
The teen, 16 at the time of the inappropriate relationship, and his mother are suing the city for school leaders' negligence in its handling of Powell and for failing to report suspected abuse to police.
At least a year before police arrested Powell, other teachers and paraprofessionals in the district had significant concerns about .
Those concerns and suspicions were strong enough that one paraprofessional quit over what she felt was an inappropriate relationship between Powell and the boy, who at the time was in middle school, and another raised concerns about the situation, at least twice, with an administrator.
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