A Rockville lawyer has filed a lawsuit against the Board of Education of Montgomery County on behalf of an 18-year-old man, who claims he was emotionally damaged by a phony psychologist employed by the school district.
Ronald Karp told News4 told News4 Montgomery County Public Schools had employed "Dr. David Flemmer" for more than 10 years based off fake credentials. The man's real name was Duane Flemmer, according to Karp.
"If they had looked into this man's credentials, they would have known he was using a bogus name," Karp said. "They would have known he wasn't a Ph.D., they would have known that he forged all those documents."
Flemmer counseled Karp's client for two years, beginning when he was 8 years old while his parents were going through a divorce.
"Once you can walk into a courtroom and look the judge in the eye and say, 'I am Dr. David Flemmer and I am a Montgomery County Schools psychologist,' you have instant credibility and you can create havoc for all kinds of people," Karp said.
In 2006, the judge removed the boy from his mother and gave custody to his father, allegedly, based on Dr. Flemmer's testimony.
"[Dr. Flemmer's testimony] was not only very credible, but it was also very enlightening," the judge wrote.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Six years later, Flemmer applied for a job out of state.
His new employer contacted the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists to check his credentials. After an investigation, the board found Flemmer, "created a fraudulent psychology license using an expired license number and forged signatures of real persons who had previously served as board members for the Board of Psychology."
In 2013, Flemmer committed suicide.
"If it comes out that the Montgomery County Schools system never notified any parent about the fact that this man was a fraud when he lost his license in 2012, if that comes out, we don't know how many kids are out there, how many parents out there were counseled by this man," Karp said.
In a written statement released Thursday, a Montgomery County Schools spokesperson says Flemmer worked for the school district from 1998 to 2010 and said, "We have not had the opportunity to see any legal action at this point, and do not discuss legal cases in the media.”
