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Bethany first selectwoman Paula Cofrancesco speaks to reporters after a board meeting on October 1st, 2024. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror

This story has been updated.

Bethany First Selectwoman Paula Cofrancesco announced her resignation before a town meeting on Monday night, reading from a letter that she said she planned to file with the town clerk’s office on Tuesday morning.

The resignation comes after a scathing report was released on May 15 that accused Cofrancesco of mishandling a number of allegations that children were sexually abused while attending after-school and camp programs run by the town. The release of that report was met with numerous calls for her resignation by elected officials and residents in light of what was described as her “ineptitude, malfeasance, and gross neglect.”

Cofrancesco’s announcement before a packed town meeting was greeted with cheers.

Yet, even as she resigned, Cofrancesco seemed to double down on her repeated claims that she’d done nothing wrong.

“I have always acted in the best interest of the town of Bethany, and while I disagree with the findings of the recent report as to my conduct, I recognize that my continuing as first selectwoman will be a distraction to the important business that needs to be done.”

Cofrancesco added that she hoped the town could begin the process of healing before closing her comments and walking away from the podium.

The report that was released last week was prepared by the Pullman & Comley law firm, followed a seven-month investigation and asserted that Cofrancesco deceived Bethany residents by repeatedly claiming she did not know the nature of the allegations against the accused, Anthony Mastrangelo. According to the report, Cofrancesco ensured that Mastrangelo continued to be employed by the town even after the school superintendent had fired him and banned him from the school campus. Cofrancesco even resisted efforts to make programs safer: according to an interview in the report with Cofrancesco’s assistant, no background checks were conducted until 2024.

The resignation takes place as lawmakers are debating a controversial bill that would require municipal camps to be licensed by the state. Currently, camps in Connecticut that are run by towns and cities receive no state oversight and aren’t required to comply with even basic regulations that private camps must abide by, like conducting staff background checks and testing water quality. 

Cofrancesco was among the voices of opposition when a similar bill was proposed in 2023. At the time, she argued that municipal camps already received enough oversight, including from elected leaders like herself.

Cofrancesco first ran for the position of first selectwoman in 2019. Among her supporters at the time was Amy Lestinsky, the mother of a girl who became the fifth child to make abuse accusations against Mastrangelo. Though Mastrangelo no longer worked for the town by the time that abuse is alleged to have occurred, he was a frequent babysitter for local kids and Cofrancesco kept quiet the allegations, including investigations by the Department of Children and Families and Connecticut State Police.

“I am extremely happy that our [first selectwoman] will be handing in her resignation,” Lestinsky told the CT Mirror. “While I feel she should have resigned last year, this is finally a step forward for our community to begin to heal.”

In addition to Cofrancesco, the report places blame on Connecticut State Police, calling their delay in seeking arrest warrants for Mastrangelo an “unexplained failure.” While Cofrancesco has now announced her resignation, police still have not provided an explanation for their lack of action, during which time a fifth victim was allegedly sexually assaulted.

Cofrancesco’s resignation will go into effect on June 6, according to her statement. Gina Teixiera, a member of the Bethany Board of Selectman, told the Connecticut Mirror that she believed Cofrancesco’s resignation should be effective immediately.

“It’s disappointing but not surprising to hear her say she acted in the best interest of the town when Pullman & Comley’s report, supported by evidence, says otherwise. Is lying to town residents and members of the Board of Selectman in the town’s best interest? Is putting town children in danger in the town’s best interest? Is creating massive liability for the town in the town’s best interest?”

Teixiera said she’d like to know what exactly in the report Cofrancesco disagrees with.

CT Mirror reporter Dave Altimari contributed to this report.

Laura Tillman is CT Mirror’s Human Services Reporter. She shares responsibility for covering housing, child protection, mental health and addiction, developmental disabilities, and other vulnerable populations. Laura began her career in journalism at the Brownsville Herald in 2007, covering the U.S.–Mexico border, and worked as a statehouse reporter for the Associated Press in Mississippi. She was most recently a producer of the national security podcast “In the Room with Peter Bergen” and is the author of two nonfiction books: The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts (2016) and The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo Garcia (2023), which was just awarded the 2024 James Beard Award for literary writing. Her freelance work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. Laura holds a degree in International Studies from Vassar College and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Goucher College.