Boy, 15, killed himself hours after school suspended him over flimsy sexual assault allegation with no due process… now they claim his PARENTS are to blame
The parents of a New York teenager accused of sexually assaulting a girl on a school bus are now being blamed for his death by the school they accused of failing to give their son due process.
Owen Poirier took his own life on October 16, 2023, outside his family’s business in Chazy, a town in upstate New York near the US-Canada border.
The 15-year-old died just hours after he was suspended and sent home from school over allegations that he touched a 16-year-old girl’s vagina on a school bus.
The girl, who was not identified, told New York State Police the soccer player had been ‘touching her everywhere’ throughout the week, despite her telling him to stop.
She also accused Poirier of touching her genitals over her clothes multiple times on the bus, where video showed them sharing lunch and him sitting on her lap, per surveillance viewed by The Free Press.
Poirier had been in tears when he got pulled into the office with Superintendent Stan Maziejka and Principal Krista Ringer to face the allegations days later, where he was not given the option to defend himself, nor were his parents allowed to ask questions, his family told The Free Press.
‘I’m done,’ Poirier emotionally said to school officials as he denied any wrongdoing, the outlet reported.
The boy also brought up a hockey player at the school who faced similar accusations and saw his reputation blow up. Poirier’s parents now fear that his response showed he thought the same for himself.
Owen Poirier took his own life outside his family’s business in Chazy, a town in Upstate New York near the US-Canada border, in 2023, after being accused of sexual assault at school
His family has accused the Chazy Central Rural School district of violating their son’s constructional right to due process and for violating New York State law
‘If they had told us, I never would have left him alone for a second, and I have to live with that every day,’ Tammy told The Free Press.
In the car ride home, Poirier expressed fears that he was disappointing his soccer team, as he wouldn’t be able to participate in the championship game. He also repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
‘I didn’t do this,’ the young man told his parents when they arrived at the school, they recalled to The Free Press.
The parents brought Poirier to the family shop and gave him the task of preparing scrap copper for recycling, hoping the activity would take his mind off what had just happened.
His father, Chad, left briefly to go fix a washing machine. By the time he returned, he found his son’s lifeless body.
Now, the family is accusing the Chazy Central Rural School and its officials in a federal lawsuit of violating their son’s constitutional right to due process and failing to follow New York State law.
In the Empire State, students and parents have the right to ask for an ‘informal conference’ when being accused of a Title IX violation. Poirier would have been able to give his perspective and could have asked the complaining witnesses questions.
State law required the conference to occur prior to the suspension, unless a student ‘poses a continuing danger to persons or property or an ongoing threat of disruption to the academic process.’
Poirier with his brother Jake. In the lawsuit, Jake said he treasured his time with his sibling
Poirier denied any wrongdoing and the school later found that no sexual assault happened, according to his family
‘This case is about the failure of the defendants and their officials to investigate fully and fairly an accusation that resulted in defendants’ reckless rush to judgment against [Poirier],’ said the 45-page lawsuit, filed in March last year and viewed by the Daily Mail.
The family accused the school of acting with an ‘anti-male bias’ that resulted in a ‘consequential, life-altering disciplinary sanction’ on Poirier that made the teen take his own life due to their ‘rush to judgment.’
They also accused the school of favoring the female student ‘in response to public pressure,’ and therefore, engaged in ‘sex-based bias when investigating and disciplining [Poirier].’
‘Tammy, Chad and [Jake] treasured their time with [Poirier], whose life was cut short by a tragedy that hurts beyond measure – a tragedy that could have been avoided,’ the lawsuit read.
The school district and the other defendants, which include the superintendent and principal, denied wrongdoing, instead telling the family that they were not negligent for the student’s death, as it occurred off school property.
A judge has not determined if the school district will be able to countersue the family.
After Poirier’s death, the school’s superintendent wrote in an email that the educational institute ‘unequivocally’ did not find evidence of sexual assault, the Poirier family argued in court filings.
The school’s lawyer said the email was taken out of context.
The family is struggling to move past the soccer’s star’s death
The school has said it is not responsible for his death, as it did not happen on school property. Above, with his grandmother
Three years after his death, the family says it’s struggling to move on as they continue to battle the legal system to get justice for their boy.
They are also considering moving out of their home in Chazy, which Poirier helped his father and brother construct.
‘It’s hard to feel like home,’ Tammy told The Free Press.
Inside the house, Poirier’s room has been set up as intended, with a Yankees pillow and blue walls to match the team’s colors.
‘There was a vision, a future,’ the mom of two told the outlet. ‘That’s all gone.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the school district and its lawyers, as well as the family’s lawyer, for comment.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or actions, please call the National Suicide Hotline at 988.
