SOUTHINGTON, Conn. — A Southington man is being charged with three counts of sexual assault from years of allegations, claiming he sexually assaulted multiple juvenile students while working as a theater director.
Police said 45-year-old Daniel Checovetes turned himself in on Friday. This arrest comes after a 2017 complaint against him, but allegations of sexual assault started many years before that.
While he is being charged in criminal court for sexual assault, he and multiple theaters are defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in 2020 regarding his alleged sexual assault against three victims from back in 2009.
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“I think right now they feel vindicated. And they feel like they're being listened to,” said Timothy Ramsey, the victims' attorney. “They're doing the right thing. I think they took a closer look at the Connecticut sexual assault statute. And I think that helped them and guided them in their decision to bring charges.”
According to Ramsey, Checovetes used to work with teen theater programs.
He had “inappropriate contact” with multiple children for years, leading to a civil lawsuit against him and numerous theater companies, including Landmark Theatre, Thomaston Opera House, and Naugatuck Teen Theater, in 2020.
“All of them have to do with Mr. Checovetes, who was either their theater director or a supervisor, or other technical aspects of theater. And during that time, unfortunately, sexually abused these girls at the various points of time that I just mentioned while they were participating in theater-related activities,” said Ramsey.
The report states the alleged assaults happened in the spring and summer of 2010, in the winter of 2008 and 2009, and fall of 2010 as well as the summer of 2015 and 2016.
The lawsuit said that every defendant is "vicariously liable."
“So it's our position in connection with these cases that had they followed their policies as they should have, that the abuse would have been discovered, and it would have been prevented early on from occurring,” said Ramsey.
The victim’s attorney said criminal charges are a step in the right direction for this case.
“I mean, this is what they wanted, and it validates their experiences and what they've had to endure by Mr. Checovetes. I mean, their whole thing and what they've said from the beginning is that they just don't want this individual to have access to minors and they want everybody to know,” said Ramsey.
His next court date is June 16th for the criminal charges, and the civil case is set to go to trial in 2024. FOX61 has also reached out to each of the defendant’s lawyers in this case and is waiting to hear back.
DeAndria Turner is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. She can be reached at dturner@fox61.com.
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