A teenager is suing the Massapequa school district for allegedly failing to protect them from a janitor who they said forcibly kissed and groped them in a high school bathroom, according to a complaint filed in Nassau County Supreme Court earlier this year.
Schneps Media is not naming the person due to their being a victim of sexual assault.
The student, then 18 and a senior, alleged that Michael Sodano, a 48-year-old custodian, was meeting them in the bathroom to purchase earbuds from them. The complaint alleges that Sodano locked the bathroom door with his janitorial keys and blocked it with his body, and then “bear-hugged” the student, pushed them against a wall and kissed their face.
Sodano was arrested the day after the alleged incident and arraigned in March on charges of forcible touch of intimate parts and third-degree sexual abuse, to which he pleaded not guilty.
In court papers, Matthew B. Lefkowitz, a Manhattan-based attorney representing the student, wrote that the district either “knew or should have known” about the “sexual offensive/harmful touching tendencies” of Sodano and they were responsible for keeping students safe.
Michael Langer, Sodano’s lawyer, said in court papers that the janitor denies the allegations and asked that the complaint be dismissed.
State records show that Sodano had been an employee of the district in 2023 and 2024.
The Massapequa School District did not immediately respond to comment.
The lawsuit is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
