Former Stamford Student Awarded $750K in Sexual Misconduct Case

A former Stamford High School student who had an inappropriate sexual relationship with an English teacher for almost nine months has reached a settlement with the city, Stamford Corporation Counsel Kathrine Emmett confirmed. 

The student was awarded $750,000 from the city after filing a claim of sexual misconduct.

The former English teacher involved, Danielle Watkins, 32, was sentenced last year on charges of sexual assault after having an intimate relationship with an 18-year-old student for months and threatening to fail him if he broke it off.

In 2013, Watkins was arrested after allegedly confronting another student at a local coffee shop. Police said she had given him marijuana while he was in her English class.

"[You and your friend] have taken everything from my: my family, my kids, my job," Watkins told the second teen, according to the victim's attorney. "I will not rest until you are both dead."

This year in Jan., the Stamford School Board voted to terminate the principal who failed to report the suspicions about Watkins to state officials or police. Last Oct., the principal, Donna Valentine, plead not guilty to criminal charges of failing to alert authorities. 

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