Why a principal who sexually abused elementary students is collecting a state pension

This post is one in a partnership between the Rochester Beacon and veteran reporter Gary Craig, featuring articles published on his Substack site.

Kirk Ashton, the former Hilton Central School District elementary principal imprisoned for the sexual abuse of 21 students, is now collecting a state pension of more than $55,000.

Incarcerated at the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility, Ashton became eligible for the pension when he turned 55 last year.

You may recall that the state Legislature in 2011 patted itself on the back and vigorously promoted actions it took to seize the pensions in full or part from convicted public officials. The move—the Public Integrity Reform Act—was hailed as a significant anti-corruption measure.

The measure was strengthened and expanded by state voters in 2017 with a statewide referendum vote.

It made for nice headlines. However, once approved, the process to strip corrupt officials of their pensions was hardly ever used.

For one, the system doesn’t pertain to all public employees, including Ashton.

Exempted with the law were the hundreds of thousands of individuals in the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System, or NYSTRS. As NYSTRS officials told me last week, in response to questions: “There are no forfeiture provisions in law for NYSTRS members who are convicted of a crime.”

Those workers aren’t alone. Also exempted are police. Across the state and in New York City are multiple examples of police convicted of crimes collecting full pensions.

Locally, as an example, retired state trooper Thomas Loewke, who in 2023 pleaded guilty to tipping off a target in a gambling probe, is receiving a pension of more than $85,000. Loewke received probation for his guilty plea.

Loewke’s crimes were exempted on two fronts: First, as a police officer, he was exempt from the law. Second, he was prosecuted in federal court, which also does not fall under the New York statutes. There have been occasional discussions in the Legislature of trying to pull federal crimes within the reach of the anti-corruption statutes, but those efforts have gained little traction.

Ashton was convicted of the sexual abuse of elementary students behind the closed doors of his office. His 2023 trial included heartbreaking testimony from victims. One victim had considered suicide later in life.

A judge sentenced Ashton to 63 years, but corrections regulations limit the sentence to 20 years. Ashton’s crimes were lower-level felonies and the regulations cap the maximum sentence at 20 years. He is first eligible for release in 2039.

Revisiting the pension measures

This is not my first time reporting on these supposed anti-corruption measures. In 2024, former downstate Journal News reporter Asher Stockler and I spent months looking into the laws for stories we wrote for the USA Today network. Here is the lead story: “You voted to fight corruption in NY state. But dishonest officials kept hefty pensions”

This reporting started simply enough. As one who has written extensively of corruption within the public and private sectors, I wondered about the efficacy of the pension forfeiture laws. I reached out to the state comptroller’s office and asked if it could check the retirement system and see how many times officials had sought the forfeiture of pensions of convicted public officials.

The office did so. The answer: Never.

New York City has its own public pension system. The answer was the same there.

So, I discovered then, years after the Public Integrity Reform Act was approved and after New York voters voted to strengthen the act, no corrupt public official had been subjected to the full or partial loss of a pension.

(An aside here: Both the comptroller’s office and NYSTRS have always been quick and responsive with the media. Many others could learn from those press offices.)

As I’ve noted, the laws already exempted hundreds of thousands of public employees. But even those subjected to the reach of the law had their pensions left unscathed if convicted of corruption crimes.

A clerk loses pension

In 2024, several months after our stories, a village clerk in Steuben County who admitted to stealing more than $100,000 from village coffers surrendered her pension as part of a plea agreement.

Before she resigned in 2023, the clerk, Ursula Stone, wrote herself an unauthorized check of nearly $27,000, one the village of Addison board was able to block. Stone is eligible for release from prison next year.

This was New York’s first instance of pension forfeiture. That case was a clear exception, and there are many reasons why that is likely so.

Pension forfeiture can require a separate process from a criminal trial, a process that comes after a conviction. So, it must be initiated by prosecutors, many who likely feel the case is complete with the conviction for a crime.

As well, there are questions about whether a pension earned via a public job should be a punitive target, and whether families, reliant on the money, could be hurt. Courts can order restitution with financial crimes.

Still, those issues of equity and fairness can be addressed within the forfeiture hearings, and across New York no criminal cases have apparently reached that point. Stone’s forfeiture was part of a plea so did not require hearings before a judge.

(Another aside: What we don’t know is whether or how often the threat of pension loss is used in plea negotiations.)

Kirk Ashton’s pension

I can’t say with certainty that Ashton’s $55,853 benefit is his entire pension. He and his wife divorced after his crimes and divorce records show issuance of a “qualified domestic relations order,” which means his full pension could be divided with his ex-wife as part of the divorce.

Asked about the pension, NYSTRS officials responded: “Under New York law, a retirement benefit may be considered marital property. Therefore, when a NYSTRS member divorces, a former spouse could be entitled to part of their benefit.

“In those cases, the System requires a court-signed domestic relations order (DRO) that specifies how the benefit will be divided within legally permitted parameters. We do not disclose DRO details per the personal privacy exemptions provided for under the New York State Public Officers Law.”

The Ashton case prompted more than two dozen lawsuits from families of victims as well as others who alleged they were victimized but were not included in the criminal allegations. It appears most if not all of those are now settled. I’m researching.

(I wrote a story about this in 2024. Oddly, it was at a time when Newspaper Guild members were on strike at the Democrat and Chronicle, so it appeared in a Gannett Union Press created for times like that. Here’s the story: “Hilton school insurers to pay out millions because of predatory principal.”)

I’m also researching now whether there have been other pension forfeitures since that of Ursula Stone.

When I learn more, look for a subsequent post.

Gary Craig is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. A retired Democrat and Chronicle reporter, he now writes on Substack.

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