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A woman, who is using the pseudonym Jane Doe, attended Chelsea High School in the 80s and believed she was in a romantic relationship with her teacher, according to lawsuit court documents. Only in 2022, when she was 53, did she realize the criminal implications of the sexual relationship, and she filed a lawsuit against her former teacher on Monday, March 13.
As well as suing her former teacher Paul Cheffi, who now lives in Temecula, California, Doe is also suing the City of Chelsea and Boston University for allowing the abuse to continue.
According to court documents:
Cheffi groomed Doe beginning in 1987 when Doe was 14 years old and Cheffi was 43 years old. Cheffi took Doe and a friend with him on errands, would talk to Doe about his personal life to normalize discussing sex, and hired Doe to clean her home in Revere.
While Doe was cleaning his home, Cheffi used his body to push Doe against the wall and kiss her. He proceeded to rape Doe repeatedly for the next four years.
Cheffi raped Doe in his classroom, in his home, and in his car while driving and parked in various places in Chelsea and Revere.
Boston University took over control of Chelsea High School in 1989. Despite frequent displays of affection by Cheffi with Doe, and despite the multiple sexual acts involving the two committed at the school, neither the High School nor the university questioned their relationship, the suit alleges.
The sexual abuse Doe sustained caused her severe and emotional distress, the complaint says, and has caused feelings of guilt and confusion, disrupted her relationships, and necessitated the intervention of mental health providers.
Doe "did not reasonably understand that she was harmed" until January 2022, when she learned via a family meeting that her family knew about the sexual relationship and discussed it among themselves. She then learned that her peers at her high school and other high schools knew about the relationship and discussed it.
One of Doe's friends was told by a teacher that she would get in trouble if she did not stop talking about the relationship between Doe and Cheffi, the suit says.
Doe suffered "severe emotional distress, humiliation, and educational harm" because of the abuse, court documents say.
Chelsea high school failed to train, supervise, investigate, or terminate Cheffi, and Boston University committed an unfair educational practice when Cheffi sexually assaulted and battered Doe, the suit says.
Doe is seeking an amount "which is fair, just, and adequate for the injuries and damages sustained, and the pain and suffering endured, plus punitive and exemplary damages," according to court documents.
The lawsuit is pending in Suffolk Superior Court.
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