“These families have now been traumatized twice: once by the rape and molestation of their little children, and second, by certain government employees who appear more concerned with protecting their own employees and preventing the truth from emerging into the light of day,” Curran wrote.

In unusually passionate language, Judge Dennis J. Curran rejected a bid by Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, the attorney for the state employees at Bridgewater, to end an unusual legal tactic by Boston attorney Carmen Durso to get public records from the university.

A Suffolk Superior Court judge harshly criticized Bridgewater State University administrators for “stonewalling” the parents of children at a university day care facility where a staffer has been accused of sexually molesting children.


In two companion rulings, Curran allowed the parents’ lawsuit seeking the records to continue and excoriated Healey’s office for invoking a “legal technicality” to block the release of information. He also lambasted school officials.

“Who speaks for the children in this case. Not the Attorney General’s office, charged with protecting public safety, not a few university administrators, who seem to have forgotten the original purpose of an educational institution: To seek the Truth,” Curran wondered in his rulings.

Curran was asked by Healey’s office to dismiss the case filed by Durso on behalf of the parents of four children. The plaintiffs include the parents of one child who was allegedly molested and other parents who are wondering whether their children might also have been attacked.

Durso said he tried a traditional public records request but shifted to a rarely used legal tactic that allows him to depose people before he sues because public employees are involved and he is raising concerns under federal civil rights laws.

“I didn’t come into this spoiling for a fight,” Durso said. “We will fight if that’s the way it’s going to be. I actually had hopes that the AG’s office would work with us to get this out in the open.”


Eva Gaffney, spokeswoman for Bridgewater State University, declined comment and referred questions to the attorney general’s office.

In a statement, Healey spokeswoman Cyndi Roy-Gonzalez said Healey’s office has been working with the parents to provide them with documents they are “entitled to” and said Bridgewater has provided some documents after being prodded by Healey’s office.

“This a tragic case and we continue to work to ensure that the parents receive all the documents that they are entitled to,” she wrote, adding that Healey’s office consulted with Durso on using the public records law to try to get some information released. “Based on the court’s decision, we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that the parents receive any and all additional documents they are entitled to receive from BSU.”

Kyle Loughlin, a Bridgewater State student who worked at the center, is accused of sexually assaulting two boys, 4 and 5, in March 2015. Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz’s office last year also charged Judith Ritacco, the former director of the day care center, with reckless endangerment for allegedly failing to act on warnings from staff members that Loughlin was acting inappropriately with children.

Both Loughlin and Ritacco have pleaded not guilty. Loughlin’s case is pending in Plymouth Superior Court, while Ritacco’s case is pending in Brockton District Court, officials said.


Curran wrote that both would probably invoke their right against self-incrimination if the plaintiffs sought to depose them in a civil lawsuit. The children are too young, he said, to provide relevant information.

For the parents, then, the only way to determine the extent of harm to their children is from Bridgewater’s own records. And in a series of single-sentence paragraphs, Curran lamented:

“What has become of us, as a people.”

“Where have we gone so terribly wrong.”

“How have we allowed such cruelty, indifference and pettiness to rule us.”

“This case is about little children — at least one of whom was allegedly raped with violence by a state-employed caregiver.”

“The parents’ request for relief must be granted; their complaint may be maintained; and discovery shall shed light on what has happened here. Sunshine is a powerful disinfectant,” Curran wrote.

Martin W. Healy, chief counsel to the Massachusetts Bar Association, said Curran’s passionate language was more commonly seen in appellate court rulings but was appropriate for a judge in the trial court.

“There is certainly a fine line between passion and advocacy. I don’t think that Judge Curran crossed that line. He is clearly frustrated” by the legal tactics employed by the school and Healey’s office, Healy said.

Healy said Bridgewater State and the attorney general’s office have the right to appeal the ruling and might win a reversal if they choose to adopt that legal strategy in the near future.

John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.