Did Lawyer Who Helped Cheerleader Sue Her Parents Also Get Her Drunk?
The legal battle between 18-year-old Rachel Canning and her parents over college tuition has turned into an argument over whether the family who took Canning in and encouraged her to sue also gave her access to alcohol.
Canning is currently living with her best friend's family, which happens to include John Inglesino, the attorney and controversial New Jersey political player who's funding Canning's lawsuit.
But Canning's parents claim the Inglesinos have been a terrible influence, hosting alcohol-fueled parties for their teenage daughters.
Rachel's dad, Sean Canning, says that as a 15-year-old freshman, Rachel once got so drunk on vodka at the Inglesino house that she puked on the sidewalk and in a garbage can when he came to pick her up for basketball.
In his written testimony, Sean Canning recounted further incidents involving the Inglesinos, teenagers, and booze:
The Inglesino household, according to Rachel in the past, is more lenient. She would often tell us how the Inglesino parents would allow alcoholic parties to be held at their house.
Rachel was angry because we would not host an alcoholic party. Rachel's first time drinking alcohol was at the Inglesino house, in March of 2011 and on other occasions including their daughter's 15th birthday where they have freely provided alcohol.
Rachel came home bragging saying that during the limo ride to NY, Mrs Inglesino gave all the girls wine coolers to drink. This type of behavior we did not condone.
This is all relevant to the Canning parents' argument that they didn't kick Rachel out, she left because they wouldn't let her drink and hang out with her boyfriend, who they blame for her "obsession with alcohol."
Rachel, for her part, says her father has been physically abusive, and her mom contributed to her bulimia by calling her "fat" and "porky."
She hasn't necessarily been nice to her parents, though. The judge in the case read a transcript of a voicemail where she told her mom, "I wanna shit all over your face."
On Tuesday, the judge dismissed Rachel's initial request for $650 a week in child support, plus legal fees and tuition for her final semester of private high school.
