Kennebunk police investigated elementary principal for alleged student abuse

The principal at Kennebunk Elementary School was [placed on leave](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/03/18/kennebunk-elementary-principal-placed-on-leave-amid-police-investigation/) in March as police investigated an allegation that he was abusive toward a 5-year-old special education student, newly obtained records show. The investigation found no probable cause to charge Ryan Quinn with a crime, but the Regional School Unit 21 board appears to be taking steps to dismiss him permanently. Last week, the school board appointed Assistant Principal Ellen Towne as interim principal and approved a motion to schedule a dismissal hearing to discuss the removal of a principal, citing only a statute under [state law](https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/20-a/title20-Asec13304.html). Related [Kennebunk Elementary principal placed on leave amid police investigation](https://www.pressherald.com/2026/03/18/kennebunk-elementary-principal-placed-on-leave-amid-police-investigation/) The board is also scheduled to meet behind closed doors next week to discuss the employment status of a staff member, though it’s not clear whether that executive session is related to Quinn. School board Chair Matthew Stratford referred statements on the situation to Superintendent Martin Grimm, who declined to comment on personnel matters, including Quinn’s potential dismissal, but said the district takes reports of staff misconduct seriously. Quinn has been on leave since March 11. Grimm said he could not say whether or not it was paid leave. Advertisement Quinn’s attorney, Gerald Conley, said he could not comment on next week’s school board meeting but emphasized that both police and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services investigated and found that his client did not commit a crime. “He was given a clean bill of health, full stop,” Conley said Thursday. “He was totally cleared of these allegations.” **POLICE INVESTIGATION** Kennebunk police began to investigate Quinn in March after an educational technician reported two instances in which the principal was allegedly physical with the 5-year-old student, according to a police incident report the Portland Press Herald obtained Thursday through a public records request. The ed tech later told police that she felt Quinn’s actions constituted child abuse, which prompted her to report him to RSU 21’s head of human resources, Gwen Bedell, who then sent the reports to DHHS. Kennebunk police Detective Brian Cashman wrote in his incident report that he did not find any probable cause for criminal charges. Cashman said the DHHS representative assigned to the case also found no evidence of child abuse. A spokesperson for DHHS did not immediately respond to specific questions about the case Thursday. Advertisement In the first reported incident, the ed tech said that on March 5, she saw Quinn pick the 5-year-old up under his arm and lift him off the ground while the boy was acting out. The report says the student “bounced” into a nearby wall. The ed tech reported that, as Quinn lifted the child, he said, “Don’t do what I’m doing, cause you’d probably get in trouble.” It’s unclear from of the redactions in the report whether he was speaking to the ed tech or the student. Quinn later told police that he did not recall saying anything like that. School Resource Officer Lawrence Angis told police that he saw Quinn lift the student from the floor while grabbing him under his arm, but he said he did not see anything that constituted excessive force. “Mr. Quinn appeared stern with (the student) when he failed to follow directions but did not appear angry or reckless,” Angis wrote in his own report, which was included in the police records.  School officials, including Grimm, Angis and Assistant Superintendent Paul Rasmussen, reviewed security camera footage from the date and time of the first incident but were unable to find any footage of the incident. In the second reported incident on March 11, the ed tech said Quinn grasped the student’s head and turned it forward, trying to get the boy to pay attention to his teacher during class. Advertisement The ed tech said during her later interview with police that the student did not appear to have been hurt in either incident, and that he did not say “that hurts” or anything similar. She told police she didn’t like how Quinn handled the student when getting him off the floor, and that she got “bad vibes” from the principal and felt he was “not fond of children.” When police interviewed the student and asked if anything bad had ever happened to him at school, the student replied “no.” The boy also he said he did not know who the principal was and answered “I don’t know” when asked if there was anyone at school he doesn’t like. Quinn told police he did not recall either incident, noting that students often have behavior issues at school. Asked if it was normal for him to put his hands on a student, Quinn said sometimes he has to “just ‘put a little pressure on (a student’s) shoulders’ to calm him down.” Quinn said he had taken many different trainings on properly handling students with behavioral issues. He also said he has never hurt a student in 32 years of educational work and never would. **DISTRICT RESPONSE** Quinn was placed on leave on the afternoon on March 11 — just hours after the allegations were reported to the RSU 21 human resources department, according to the incident report. Towne, the assistant principal, has served in the role on a temporary basis since Quinn was put on leave. Advertisement The board of directors has also approved a motion to schedule a dismissal hearing to discuss the removal of a principal, pursuant to [the statute in state law](https://archive.is/o/7cliv/https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/20-a/title20-Asec13304.html) that governs the dismissal of school principals. That statute decrees that a principal may only be dismissed for cause, upon the superintendent’s recommendation and a majority vote of the school board, after receiving due notice and an investigation, as well as a hearing before the board if requested. A date and time for that hearing had not been announced as of Thursday. The board is also scheduled to hold an executive session at its Monday meeting to discuss the employment status of a staff member, though it’s not clear whether it’s Quinn. Grimm, the superintendent, declined Thursday to say what the focus of the executive session will be. Grimm emphasized that the district considers student safety its top priority. “ We’re not presuming someone is guilty of what’s been reported, but it’s our job to  make sure that the state’s alerted so they can look into it and conduct an investigation,” he said. “And of course, we do our own internal investigation as well.” Copy the Story Link Tagged: [kennebunk police department](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/kennebunk-police-department/), [rsu 21 school board](https://www.pressherald.com/tag/rsu-21-school-board/) [](https://www.pressherald.com/author/abigail-driscoll) [Abigail DriscollStaff Writer](https://www.pressherald.com/author/abigail-driscoll) Abigail is a community reporter for Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Sanford, and Wells. She recently moved up to Maine from Connecticut after getting her bachelor’s degree in English/Journalism at the University. [More by Abigail Driscoll](https://www.pressherald.com/author/abigail-driscoll)