Federal Rule May Have Let Tuttle Stay In North Andover Schools

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — An executive order signed by former President Barack Obama may have helped North Andover high school student remain in school, even after three other students accused him of sexual assault. Last week's arrest of Eliezer Tuttle, 18, by police in New Hampshire after he was accused of raping a girl twice in the same day has brought scrutiny on the school system's policies. The victim in the New Hampshire case is not a North Andover High School student but is being represented by the same attorney as the other three girls who have accused Tuttle of sexual assault.

North Andover school officials first learned of the allegations against Tuttle in 2017. Under Obama administration's discipline guidance, which was rescinded by President Donald Trump in December, schools were warned they may violate federal civil rights laws if they disciplined students of color at higher rates than their white peers. The order warned schools they would need to show discipline measures barring students of color from attending school were necessary and that the school system had considered alternatives.

In North Andover, the alternatives developed were the safety plans victims and Tuttle were asked to sign when he returned to school. The plans outlined paths the victims had to take to move around the school building, and warned of disciplinary action if they failed to "refrain from any avoidable contact or communication" with Tuttle.

North Andover school officials have declined to comment on the Tuttle case. But in a letter to parents earlier this week, Superintendent Glenn Gilligan said the district had hired an outside attorney to review its policies. The school system's "current policies, procedures, and forms relating to reports of student criminal activity and/or harassment, the processing and investigation of such reports, and ensuring a safe and non-hostile environment for all students," Gilligan wrote.

School First Alerted In 2017

School officials were first notified that Tuttle had been accused of a sexual assault, when a then 15-year-old student at the school went to police and told them Tuttle had raped her in October 2017. Tuttle was never prosecuted in the 2017 case because prosecutors thought the victim was "too fragile to testify."

Then in March of last year, another student was attacked by Tuttle in his car. The victim, according to an affidavit, fought Tuttle off when he forcibly tried to take her clothes off and climbed on top of her.

"He drove me home immediately after [the attack] and made sure that nobody at school was going to find out about this from me, and that I was good at keeping secrets," the girl wrote in an affidavit dated April 2. "Later that night I came home crying and called a rape hotline for advice on what to do. The next morning I told my principal and counselors. He was arrested the next morning. Now he is out pending the next hearing."

The case was continued without a finding until Tuttle's 19th birthday. Such rulings are often given to first-time offenders. While Tuttle effectively admitted that a jury would find him guilty if the case went to trial, the continuation without a finding meant the incident would have been erased from his record had he stayed out of trouble.

School officials asked the victim to sign a safety action plan when Tuttle was allowed to return to school. The victim refused to sign when she learned she would face disciplinary action if she violated the stipulations laid out in the plan.

Another victim told the Eagle-Tribune that she ultimately had to enroll in night school to graduate high school.

"I ended up being 10 minutes late to my first class every day," she told the newspaper. "I couldn’t be in the same area as him, so I had to wait for him to walk into the building if I was behind him. It was things like that that just added up. It was a lot.”"

Tuttle was arrested last week by police in Salem, New Hampshire. He has been held without bail in New Hampshire since pleading not guilty to multiple charges. Police say Tuttle raped a teenage girl in his car outside of a Salem restaurant on Feb. 17, then raped her again later that day outside of a movie theater in Epping.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).