FRANKLIN, Pa. (EYT) — The Franklin Area School District has reached an agreement in a lawsuit filed in March of 2019 in federal court against the District, Superintendent Pamela Dye, and Junior-Senior High School Principal Christina Cohlhepp that alleged that the district created a climate in which former teacher Kyle Askins could “prey” upon a girl he was convicted of sexually abusing.

Details of the agreement will not be made public, as they are covered under a sealed protective order that was granted by Venango County Judge Robert Boyer on October 3, 2019, according to Neal Devlin, of the law firm Knox, McLaughlin, Gornall & Sennett, who represented the School District, Dye, and Cohlhepp.

Devlin would only characterize it as an “agreement” when asked if it was a resolution or a settlement.

“I can’t provide any more detail,” Devlin said. “There was an order entered in the Court of Common Please in (Venango County) that sealed the record as confidential.”

A copy of the protective order obtained by exploreVenango.com says that the request for the protective order was filed by the parents and natural guardians of the girl who Askins abused.

In granting the protective order, Boyer said, “the Court finds that the Petitioners have established good cause for the relief request in their Petition, and specifically finds that public disclosure of the settlement of the minor plaintiff’s (name withheld by exploreVenango.com to protect the victim) claims, or the terms of the settlement, would cause serious injury to the minor (plaintiff’s) emotional, mental, and physical well-being.

Devlin expects that a series of Rule 41A dismissals will be filed by the plaintiffs’ attorney in the coming days.

According to the Cornell Law School website, a Rule 41A dismissal is where the plaintiff may dismiss an action without a court order.

A call to Robert Varsek, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, was not returned Tuesday, December 17, nor were calls to Dye’s office nor the office of Franklin School Board President Brian Spaid.

The lawsuit was filed on March 1 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on behalf of the victim and her parents. The plaintiffs’ names are being withheld by exploreVenango.com to help protect the identity of the victim.

Allegations within the suit were centered around an ongoing relationship and “a long course of inappropriate physical contact” between Askins and a 13-year-old female student during the 2016-2017 school year. Askins was also named in the lawsuit.

After pleading guilty in August 2017 to one first-degree felony count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a person less than 16 years of age, Askins, in November 2017, was ordered to serve 54 months to a maximum of 20 years in state prison. He is currently incarcerated at SCI Waymart in Wayne County.

Askins was 25-years-old at the time of the incidents and beginning his second year of employment with Franklin Area School District as a health/physical education teacher and coach.

In exchange for his guilty plea, four felony charges (statutory Sexual Assault: 4-8 Years Older’ Aggravated Indecent Assault – Complainant Less Than 16; Interference with Custody Of Children; and Corruption Of Minors – Defendant Age 18 or Above) and one misdemeanor charge (indecent Assault Person Less 16 Years Age) against Askins were dropped.

In May of 2019, Devlin and co-council Aurora Hardin of the same law firm filed a response on behalf of Dye and Cohlhepp denying several allegations in the lawsuit stating that “the answering defendants lack sufficient information to determine the truth of these allegations and, therefore, they are denied.”

DETAILS OF THE CASE

According to court documents filed by Franklin-based State Police, Askins and his victim, a 13-year-old girl, met outside of school on approximately 10 occasions and school staff had contacted police.

The investigation began on May 1, 2017, after the girl’s parents discovered she was missing around 3:00 a.m.

During an interview with Franklin-based State Police Cpl. Bunyak later that day, Askins allegedly admitted to engaging in a relationship with the 13-year-old victim.

Askins allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim on eight known occasions, according to police.

“The defendant openly admitted to having oral and vaginal sex with the victim on eight occasions,” said Cpl. Bunyak in the affidavit.

In 2017, Dye told exploreVenango.com that Askins was fired by the school board in May of 2017.