Gym Teacher, Sued Over Sex Abuse Allegations, Has Been Fired

A Massachusetts middle school gym teacher accused in a lawsuit of raping a student years ago has been fired, school district officials said.

Duxbury schools Superintendent John Antonucci said during a school committee meeting on Tuesday that Duxbury Middle School teacher John Blake was fired effective April 1 after an internal investigation.

Blake, who was also the varsity boys hockey coach at Duxbury High School for nearly two decades, was placed on administrative leave in November after a couple alleged that he sexually assaulted their son while he was in middle school in the mid-2000s. Joseph and Melissa Foley filed the $1 million lawsuit against Blake and the school district last week.

Their son, Joseph Parker Foley, died of an accidental drug overdose last October at age 27.

Antonucci said police have received more than a dozen anonymous tips about Blake’s alleged behavior but no criminal charges have been filed.

Blake has denied the allegations, and his lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said Blake passed a polygraph test Monday.

“People are making assumptions about John Blake that are way off base,” Reddington told The Boston Globe. “This case is absolutely malicious and not based on any factual evidence whatsoever.”