 |
| Anne Scott, at the Cambridge. Mass., office of her lawyer, Eric MacLeish. Ms. Scott said she had been sexually molested and raped while a student at St. George’s School in Rhode Island. Credit Suzanne Kreiter/Boston Globe |
40 Alumni Assert Sexual Abuse at a Rhode Island Prep School - The scope of the scandal at St. George’s School in Rhode Island expands with reports covering three decades.
BOSTON — The scope of a sexual abuse scandal at St. George’s School
in Rhode Island widened substantially on Tuesday as lawyers reported
that at least 40 former students had made credible reports of sexual
abuse, and in some cases rape, by seven former staff members and four
students over three decades.
At the same time, a spokesman for the school, which had made public its own investigation
late last month, now characterized that investigation as “preliminary”
and said that it would soon name who would be carrying the investigation
forward. “The work remains ongoing,” the school said in a statement.
Lawyers
for the victims said that the abuse took place from 1974 through 2004.
Four of the seven former staff members are still alive, and in at least
two cases appear to be working in settings with young people. None have
been charged criminally.
“The
magnitude and scope of this is already approaching the largest private
school sexual abuse case that we’ve seen, which was at Horace Mann,
where 62 victims came forward,” said Eric MacLeish, a lawyer who, with
Carmen L. Durso, is representing some of the victims. The accusations at
the Horace Mann School came to light in 2012.
Capt.
Matthew Moynihan of the Rhode Island State Police confirmed an
investigation into accusations forwarded by the school and by the
lawyers, and said the police were encouraging anyone to come forward who
was either a victim or a witness. The school is an Episcopal boarding
and day school for boys and girls in grades 9 through 12.
The
lawyers and three of the victims said at a news conference here that
the school’s report presented a sanitized version of sexual abuse at the
school, which they likened to that of the Roman Catholic Church;
although some of those accused of the abuse were fired, the school has
acknowledged that it did not report suspects to the authorities or alert
their subsequent employers.
“Sexual
abuse in education is the clergy-abuse crisis of this decade, if not
this century, and you’re going to see more and more of it,” Mr. Durso
said.
He
and Mr. MacLeish predicted that more victims would come forward, but
said that just as the clergy abuse scandal unfolded over many years,
some victims may take a long time reacting to events that were
disturbing and in some cases life-changing.
Mr.
Durso said the Massachusetts legislature was considering what is
commonly called a “pass the trash” bill. It refers to schools passing on
problematic teachers to new schools without reporting problems,
including those that might put others in jeopardy. The bill would make
it a crime to fail to report a complaint of sexual misconduct in public
and private schools.
There
is no evidence of continuing sexual misconduct at St. George’s, the
lawyers said, but some of the victims are calling for Eric Peterson, the
head of school, to resign. They say he did not take seriously the
complaints from some alumni who came forward.
One
of the victims, Harry Groome, 52, a 1982 graduate who said he was raped
by another student in front of other students, said at the news
conference that he wanted Mr. Peterson to resign because he had been
unresponsive to complaints.
“Eric Peterson has been covering this up since 2004, my issue as well as others,” Mr. Groome said.
In
a statement, the school indicated that Mr. Peterson would not resign
and said that he had supported a “vigorous investigation of alleged
sexual abuse” and had demonstrated compassion and empathy to those who
had come forward.
In
a separate statement, the school apologized for the harm done, adding
that “the way in which the school addressed these incidents has served
to compound this harm.”
The
school’s report identified only one of the accused by name. He was Al
Gibbs, an athletic trainer, who was fired in 1980 after multiple reports
of sexual molestation and at least one rape.
The school’s report referred to two others as “employee perpetrator #2” and “employee perpetrator #3.”
But
on Tuesday, Mr. MacLeish, matching victims’ accounts with the school’s
report, identified them as the Rev. Dr. Howard White, a former assistant
chaplain, who left the school in 1974 after reports of sexual contact
with at least three boys, and Franklin Coleman, a former choir director
fired in 1988 after accusations of sexually molesting several boys.
Mr.
MacLeish said it was important to identify them because he believes
they still had access to minors. The names were given to the state
police, and neither has been charged.
The
school’s investigation said that Tony Zane, then the head of school,
confronted Mr. White, whom it called “employee perpetrator #2, and that
he “admitted to the misconduct” and abruptly left in 1974.
Another student, William MacNamara, told the lawyers that Mr. White had repeatedly molested and raped him.
Reached
on Tuesday at his home in Bedford, Pa., Mr. White said: “I don’t have
any response. It’s news to me.” Asked if he was fired because of
accusations of sexual misconduct, he said, “That isn’t really true.”
Asked again if he had faced accusations of sexual improprieties, he said, “I’m not saying anything.”
The
school’s investigation of Mr. Coleman, whom it called “employee
perpetrator #3,” said he was fired after reportedly engaging in sexual
misconduct with at least three students, including groping them.
Mr.
Coleman was met Tuesday by a reporter in Newark as he left his home. He
repeatedly answered “no comment” when asked about the accusations.
Asked if he had abused students at the school or if he denied the
accusations, he said, “No comment.”
Asked
specifically about accusations made by a former student, Hawk Cramer,
he said, “Talk to my lawyer.” He did not provide the lawyer’s name.