Thursday, October 1, 2026
West Hempstead Union Free School District filed a motion on April 2 to dismiss multiple causes of action in the case of John O’Dwyer, a former Cornwell Elementary special education teacher.
O’Dwyer was accused of abusing students in March 2025 after a West Hempstead parent gave News 12 a letter they received from the district in February 2025, saying that the district “opened a case of alleged child abuse in an education setting … involving their child.”
Superintendent Daniel Rehman responded with a letter to the community, affirming that “the district has taken all appropriate steps as part of an investigation into a former employee of the district. We are aware of alleged incidents that have occurred and remain committed to ensuring that they are taken extremely seriously and are fully investigated.”
A lawsuit was filed in October 2025 on behalf of at least 12 children allegedly abused by O’Dwyer. West Hempstead filed a motion to sever, meaning the case was split into multiple individual cases for each individual victim. He is also facng separate criminal charges for his alleged abuse.
The new motion filed by the district is in response to a lawsuit filed in March of this year, by the parents of the alleged victims, claiming that staff members who witnessed O’Dwyer’s abuse did not report it, despite being legally required to do so.
“The district’s latest round of legal acrobatics will not stop us from figuring out why they let Mr. O’Dwyer keep abusing special needs children,” said Nathan Werksman, the attorney representing the families of six of O’Dwyer’s victims.
“As we have alleged, they knew of his bad conduct, and we are focused on getting justice for them,” Werksman added.
The Herald contacted the Nassau County District Attorney’s office about the investigation into O’Dwyer.
“NCDA has a pending prosecution and our investigation remains ongoing,” the district attorney’s office wrote in a March 30 statement.
