The people came from near and far to have their voices finally heard.
About 150 people gathered on the Litchfield Green Saturday afternoon to listen to survivors of and witnesses to alleged abuse by a long-time local running coach who died on Sept. 14.
Former middle school and high school runners from Litchfield came from Nashville and Boston to talk about their alleged experiences while being coached by Dave Driscoll in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“I love coming home to Litchfield but for the last 30 years of my life, I’ve been running from the terrible things that happened to me while I was growing up here,” said Dan Bird, who graduated from Litchfield High in 1996 and came to the event from Nashville.
The event was originally scheduled at the same time as a memorial that was planned at the community center in town for Driscoll, who died Sept. 14 at age 81. The memorial event was canceled.
Driscoll was a popular figure in town and had lived in or near Litchfield his entire life. He was involved in the Litchfield Road Race from its inception in 1977 and was one of its first race directors. He started the Litchfield Track Club in the late 70s and coached hundreds of children over the years. He also worked at summer camp for boys in Maine.
He was employed as an aide and a coach in the Litchfield public schools system from Jan. 1972 through May 25, 1993, when he resigned, according to the Region 20 superintendent of school’s office. Further information was not available about his tenure. During his tenure, Driscoll was a cross country coach at the middle school in Litchfield and also was the coach of the co-ed swim team at Litchfield High.
There was a police investigation that was initiated in April 1990 and concluded in January 1993 and called for Driscoll’s arrest on charges of third-degree sexual assault and fourth-degree sexual assault, and risk of injury to a minor, records show. But the warrant application was refused by the state’s attorney at the time because, according to the police report, the victims and witnesses in the report were unwilling to testify. No arrest was made.
“We are reviewing the allegations outlined in the police report, which was recently brought to our attention,” a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Children and Families said Friday. “While it was indicated in the report that DCF had been contacted, these allegations date back 30 years and so we cannot immediately confirm the nature of our involvement.”
Saturday, some of those who said they were interviewed and were included in the police report, such as Bird, spoke about the alleged abuse.
“From the sixth to ninth grade, I was groomed and sexually abused by David Driscoll,” Bird said. “At that time, I was a vulnerable target because I was grateful for his mentorship, his friendship and the life experiences I was afforded at an early age in life.”
When he was questioned by police during the investigation when he was 12 or 13, Bird said he lied.
“All my thoughts raced back to all the uncomfortable moments I had spent alone with this man,” he said Saturday. “I told them nothing inappropriate had happened. I was confused and ashamed and even began to defend David Driscoll. All of these were lies.”
Bird said he began to use drugs and alcohol in high school but stopped drinking last summer and was baptized.
“I feel strong calling to share my story of hope and healing to those who are scarred, tired, lost, lonely and empty,” he said.
Another former runner, Matt Hladik, who said he was allegedly abused by Driscoll in 1980 when he was in middle school, sent a letter to be read to the gathering.
“The biggest betrayal I felt as I grew older is that there were and are many adults in the Litchfield community who knew what was happening or suspected what was happening and did nothing,” said Hladik, who now lives in Colorado, in the letter. “For me, this was a confirmation the town didn’t care about the kids, only their hometown hero running coach. This was how I grew to hate my hometown of Litchfield, Connecticut. Even though my parents still live there, I loathe having to go back there because of what happened.”
John Fitterer, a 1994 Litchfield High graduate, said he reported his alleged abuse to the police in 1992.
“The police recommended that three felony charges be brought against Driscoll but unfortunately none of the children interviewed were willing to testify in court,” he said Saturday. “Charges were not formally brought against him and the case was closed.
“I didn’t know any of this until about a month ago when Burke Gibney posted on Facebook about the conduct of Driscoll and why the community should not be honoring this man. For 33 years, I believed I was the only one who came forward.”
Gibney, who graduated from Litchfield High in 1990, still lives in Litchfield and was a victim of the alleged abuse, said Driscoll was “a monster.”
“The damage he did to so many lives is incalculable,” Gibney said.
Jana Wu, a licensed social worker who grew up in Litchfield, talked about running for the Litchfield Track Club and remembered her trip to the National Junior Olympics in a good way. Indeed, when Driscoll died, many runners who were coached by him over the years offered praise for him.
“I understand the complexity,” Wu said Saturday. “We like things to be black or white, good or bad, hero or villain – but this situation lives in a different space and that’s part of the reason that this stayed silent for so long.
“It’s hard to hold that both of these realities exist – that someone could have actually created incredible life-shaping moments for some and then caused such deep significant and lasting harm to others. But both can exist,” she said.
“To the parents and friends who have carried guilt and wondered, ‘How did I not know?’ Please hear me, you were operating in a system that didn’t want you to know. Predators hide not only behind charm and reputation, but they hide in communities that don’t want to believe this could happen here.”
