Sexual, Physical Abuse Found At West Hartford School For The Deaf

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A West Hartford school for the deaf is facing multiple credible allegations of sexual and physical abuse spanning decades, school officials told The Associated Press.

The American School for the Deaf released the findings of the investigation on Friday, one year after it says it learned of allegations from alumni of “inappropriate physical conduct” by former faculty and staff at the school and a summer camp it operates, the AP reported.

The school was able to corroborate allegations of sexual misconduct against several former faculty and staff, including a longtime executive director accused of sexually abusing a student decades ago, according to the AP.

Approximately 40 alumni reported “persistent” corporal punishment and physical abuse from the 1960s through at least the 1980s, the AP reported, adding that students said they were forced to kneel on broomsticks, slapped and punched, restrained with belts and straightjackets, forced to eat until vomiting and confined in a clothes hamper and closets as punishment.

The school told the AP all allegations were reported to the appropriate authorities. School officials declined to comment Friday beyond the report’s findings, The Hartford Courant reported.

Founded in 1817, the American School for the Deaf was the first permanent school for the deaf in the United States, according to the school's website. It provides educational services to students from 110 Connecticut school districts, six states outside of Connecticut and serves international students.