UPDATE::Teachers in Connecticut 'indoctrinated family's daughters into a cult' | Mail Online

UPDATE::  Avon School District Reaches Settlement In Alleged Cult Lawsuit

A settlement has been reached in a bizarre lawsuit that accused four Connecticut high school educators of "indoctrinating" three sisters into a religious cult that celebrates death and causing the siblings to suffer severe personality changes.

Court documents show the lawsuit filed nearly four years ago was reported settled after a conference led by a federal judge in New Haven on Thursday. Terms were not disclosed. The settlement must be approved by the local school board.

In my previous post concerning the Stern case I stated, "Cult like thinking and indoctrination doesn't necessarily equate to a strict "religious" setting,,,[t]he use of mind-control tactics and mental abuse to exploit and manipulate for personal gain can be seen outside the church as well."

According to the UK's Daily Mail Online, this case also exhibits that same characteristic:
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A couple have claimed that their three daughters were indoctrinated into a religious cult by their school teachers leaving them with suicidal thoughts and alienated from their loving family, according to a new lawsuit.

The couple, from Avon, Connecticut, filed the civil lawsuit in federal court on Monday against the Avon school district, three teachers and a guidance counselor at Avon High School and Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

The parents alleged that their older daughters, now aged 22 and 19, became 'reclusive, secretive and distant' after they began taking Spanish classes at Avon High.

The named defendants are Connecticut residents Tanya Mastoloni (also known as Tanya Romero), Rebecca Kessler; Laura Sullivan and California resident Christopher Esposito.

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The couple claimed that the teachers and counselor indoctrinated their daughters into a cult that promotes martyrdom and celebrates death.

The couple said their daughters became secretive, lost their good humor and empathy and began speaking a bizarre language. The girls are also unable to think critically or independently, the lawsuit claimed.

The parents noticed that their second daughter began to change in the same way as her older sister when she took classes with the same Spanish teacher, Tanya Mastoloni.

The teachers, along with a guidance counselor, encouraged the girl to join her older sister at Wellesley so they could all meet up there. The indoctrination by the teachers reportedly continued when two of the girls went to Wellesley College.

According to the 64-page lawsuit, the youngest daughter was also targeted to be indoctrinated into the same belief system, but she broke free. She has jointly filed the lawsuit with her parents.

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The parents claimed that the three women, along with Esposito, acted like a clique, favoring certain students over others. The lawsuit claimed that they socialized with students and shared inappropriate stories about boyfriends. Mastoloni would also pry about students' personal lives and offer to interpret their dreams.

Defendant Mastoloni veered from the Spanish curriculum and taught her students about spirituality, numerology, astrology, dreams and angels in her classes, the lawsuit claimed.

She asked students to write essays about what they believed happened to them when they died - but because the writing was in Spanish, people outside the class were unaware of the inappropriate subject matter.

According to the suit, Mastoloni told her class about her abusive upbringing, including stories of an alleged kidnapping and rape by her stepfather.

The parents' lawsuit alleges that the girls were up all night performing 'whirling dervish' dances at Wellesley College, following their personality changes

From Courthouse News service:

"All three girls experienced sudden and severe personality changes," the complaint states. "They became flat and distant, reclusive, secretive, and non-communicative. They lost their humor and their empathy. They began speaking in a bizarre new language. They became unable to think critically or independently. They became dependent on the school teachers and guidance counselor who had indoctrinated them, especially defendant Tanya Mastoloni."

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The Does say they sent their daughters to public school to receive a secular education. "The religious indoctrination had no secular purpose," the complaint states.

They claim that the "infringement of Jane's and John's fundamental right to parental autonomy was done without a compelling reason, and without due process of law."

The Does want Avon Public Schools held accountable for its failure to "properly supervise and control its employees, and for allowing its employees to engage in predatory religious indoctrination in school."

Teachers in Connecticut 'indoctrinated family's daughters into a cult' | Mail Online