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Richard Weldon saw the social networking trend early.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
NAPLES — The parents of a 4-year-old North Naples girl whose genitals were photographed by a man at the now-defunct Ann Phillip Preschool have
settled their lawsuit. But the girl won’t receive $87,220 until she’s an adult.
Under Wednesday’s settlement with the insurer for Katherine Dinatale’s preschool, most of the money will be placed in an annuity account, where it will
grow over more than 20 years. The first payment will become available to the girl once she turns 18, attorney Richard Weldon told Collier Circuit
Judge Cynthia Pivacek at a hearing Wednesday to approve the settlement.
The lawsuit was one of two filed last fall against the preschool. The other girl’s parents also reached an undisclosed settlement this week that must go
before Pivacek for approval.
Dinatale’s son, Anthony J. Dinatale Jr., now 30, of Golden Gate Estates, was arrested March 25, 2009, and remains held on $3.4 million bond in Collier
County jail, the highest bond many local attorneys can recall here. Sheriff’s investigators say they found the photos on his cellphone and he confessed.
The quick settlement, just five months after the North Naples couple sued, means the girl won’t have to testify at depositions or a trial. Because it was a
more than $15,000 settlement, it required a judge’s approval, which the couple received Wednesday after the prior approval of a guardian ad litem
assigned to protect the child’s interests, attorney Bradley Bryant of Naples.
“The vast majority of the net proceeds will be used to fund an annuity for their daughter,” Weldon said, assuring the judge that the couple will receive
additional money to place in a savings account in case their daughter needs counseling. “At this point we don’t have any indication that’s going to be
required ...”
He said the girl has undergone psychotherapy and has exhibited no signs of stress.
“The parents obviously don’t want to drag her through these circumstances,” Weldon said of depositions and a trial. “... Fortunately, their daughter was
4 years old at the time and doesn’t seem to be affected. We certainly don’t want to regurgitate that and subject her to that.”
The full settlement wasn’t disclosed, but also includes additional amounts to pay attorney fees and costs, and the savings account sum. In present
dollars, the amount being deposited into an annuity account totals roughly $55,000.
The girl will receive payments of $17,444 on her 18th birthday, then every year until she’s 21, with a final payment when she turns 25, Weldon said,
pointing out that it will total roughly $87,220.
The case went to mediation, Weldon said, and his firm, Weldon & Rothman of Naples, agreed to waive its standard 40 percent fee and accept
33.33 percent of the full settlement. That percentage is the statutory amount in Florida.
Due to the sexual nature of the case, the Naples Daily News is withholding the couple’s name. The judge asked the couple if they wanted to speak, but
they didn’t.
“Do you think this is in the best interests of your child and family at this point?” Pivacek asked.
“Yes,” the 30-year-old mother said.
Weldon and the couple declined comment as they left court.
Dinatale’s attorney, Kim Howard of Fort Myers, was not in court, but didn’t object to the judge signing the order.
Dinatale sold the school at 860 102nd Ave. North, which is now known as Noah’s Ark Academy Naples. It’s been under new management since July 13.
Dinatale’s small preschool was closed for two weeks last spring while the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Children and
Families investigated allegations of sexual abuse.
The girl immediately reported the March 18, 2009, incident to two day-care employees, who did not tell the owner until two days later, reports say. They
told deputies they were unsure about what to do and waited to tell the owner because they wanted a more senior employee to handle it.
Investigators say Anthony Dinatale Jr. deleted the photos in his cellphone, which he provided to detectives, believing they were gone. But they were able
to retrieve them and identify both girls. The photos are the strongest evidence in both the criminal and civil cases, which often are difficult in he-said,
she-said allegations involving young victims.
Dinatale is charged with two counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child and lewd and lascivious molestation involving two children. He also
faces three counts of capital sexual battery and lewd or lascivious molestation charges in an unrelated rape case involving a 9-year-old girl who came
forward after the initial cases were publicized.
He faces life in prison for the capital offense and 15 years for the others, second-degree felonies.
The couple sued Ann Phillip Enterprises on Oct. 26, while another couple, represented by Naples attorney Ted Zelman, sued Dinatale and Ann Phillip
Enterprises on Nov. 3 on behalf of a 5-year-old student.
Zelman had filed a motion to amend the lawsuit to add punitive damages, which are meant to punish wrongdoing, set an example, and deter others.
But he also reached a settlement this week that requires Pivacek’s approval.
That lawsuit alleges that the 5-year-old was using the bathroom at 4:15 p.m. March 18, 2009, when Dinatale photographed her genital area and
touched her genitals.
It contends the defendants were negligent and breached their duties by failing to maintain safe premises by having two doors to the bathroom, allowing
others to enter while a child was using it. The lawsuit accuses Katherine Dinatale and the school of allowing her stepson to linger in school while
children were alone and unsupervised, despite knowing he acted strangely.
It also accuses her of violating state law by not immediately reporting the abuse and alerting her stepson about the allegations, which gave him time to
destroy evidence. The lawsuit says that prevented the parents from being able to provide immediate comfort to their child.
