Punahou Schools and a mother who sued the private institution over the expulsion of her first-grade son have settled the litigation, agreeing that her child would be able to finish the semester there,
attorneys for both sides said Wednesday.
The 6-year-old boy missed a day or two of classes late last month before the court approved an order — stemming from the lawsuit — compelling Punahou to take him back while the merits of the sealed case were considered.
Lawyers for both sides told Circuit Judge Gary Chang on Wednesday that they agreed to settle the lawsuit, which will be dismissed at the end of the semester.
As part of the settlement, the conditions of the court order will continue, the attorneys said, including prohibitions against the boy’s father entering the campus or other school premises, having other children who are Punahou students visit his home and having any contact with Punahou students.
Prior to the order, the school had told the boy’s family that he could no longer attend Punahou, citing the disruption that resulted over criminal allegations against the father. Punahou said the disruption had escalated in recent weeks, significantly interfering with “the functioning of the school community.”
The man was arrested in June on suspicion of promoting pornography to a minor after a 6-year-old girl told police that while she was at a sleepover at his home a year earlier, the man had shown her a video of naked women. The girl was a friend of the man’s now-
6-year-old son.
The video included two women having oral sex, and the man allegedly had asked the girl if she wanted to copy what the women were doing, according to the police report.
Prosecutors declined to charge him, citing insufficient evidence.
Independent of that case, a Nevada couple had filed a police report in February 2017 accusing the same man of sexually molesting their daughter, then 3 or 4 years old, while she was at sleepovers at his home about two years earlier, according to the report. They were living in Hawaii at the time.
The man was not arrested or charged in that case. During a forensics interview in Nevada observed by a Honolulu detective, the girl did not mention the abuse, according to the police
report.
Even though the father was not charged in either case, parents of other Punahou students voiced concerns about the situation, leading to the school’s expulsion decision.
Asked what will happen to the boy’s schooling once the semester ends, the attorneys said that would be up to his parents.
The main court documents in the case remained confidential Wednesday, including the lawsuit stating the grounds under which the woman sued Punahou. Her attorney’s request to file the lawsuit and subsequent records under seal also remained confidential.
A media attorney said in a Honolulu Star-Advertiser story published Tuesday that the process used to seal the records appeared to violate two Hawaii Supreme Court decisions.
Chang issued a new order Tuesday night that was not confidential and that explained why “all documents filed in this case” would remain sealed. Keeping virtually all documents confidential is effectively a blanket seal.
The reason is “to protect the privacy of the parties hereto and to provide protection for the best interest of the involved minor child,” according to Chang’s order.
Jeff Portnoy, a media attorney who sometimes represents the Star-Advertiser, said privacy “under very limited circumstances, particularly when dealing with a minor, might be a legitimate reason to seal selected parts of the proceedings.”
But a blanket seal, Portnoy said, has been found by practically every court to be unwarranted unless national security or other similar interests are involved. In cases involving privacy concerns, there should be only selected sealing based on the court evaluating prior arguments for and against such confidentiality, he added.
No such hearing was held in this case.
The Star-Advertiser is not naming the father of the child because he was never charged. It also is not naming the mother because that would indirectly identify the son.
