Schools

Convicted Rapist, Former CHS Teacher Indicted On 39 New Charges In Concord: Follow-Up

Primo "Howie" Leung, a former high school teacher in jail in Massachusetts, has been indicted on new charges dating back to October 2014.

Former Concord High School teacher Primo “Howie” Leung faces sexual assault and other charges after incidents in NH between 2014 and 2018. He is pictured here before being sentenced in Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn, MA, in July 2023.
Former Concord High School teacher Primo “Howie” Leung faces sexual assault and other charges after incidents in NH between 2014 and 2018. He is pictured here before being sentenced in Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn, MA, in July 2023. (Tony Schinella/Patch)

CONCORD, NH — A convicted teacher serving time in Massachusetts for raping a Concord student at a summer program at the Fessenden School in Newton, MA, in 2015 and 2016, has been indicted on new charges in Concord, dating back to October 2014, according to a filing in Merrimack County Superior Court.

Primo “Howie” Leung, 41, currently incarcerated in the Bay State, was indicted on 39 charges on Tuesday, including criminal restraint, two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault-pattern sexual assault, 16 counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault-authority position, 16 counts of felonious sexual assault-penetration-victim 13 to 15, two witness tampering-induce another, and falsifying physical evidence charges, all felonies. He was also indicted on a misdemeanor sexual assault-aggravated circ. count.

The indictment was posted on Thursday afternoon.

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Merrimack County Attorney Paul Halvorsen and Concord Police Department Chief Bradley Osgood released a short statement not long after the court published the indictments confirming the grand jury action against Leung, saying they were accusations and he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Most of the child rape, sexual assault, and other charges stem from incidents dating between October 2014 and August 2015. Limited information is available about the investigation because it was a direct indictment — meaning the case file and affidavits are unavailable. It is unknown if the charges in these incidents were connected to known girls, now women, involved in the previous investigations, or others.

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It would appear, from the filing, the witness tampering charges, which stem from incidents on Dec. 7, 2018, were connected to the initial incident where students reportedly saw Leung kissing an 18-year-old female student inside of a vehicle on East Side Drive near Interstate 393.

That incident led to an investigation of Leung, his placement in a teacher rehabilitation program, and investigatory documents being given to the New Hampshire Department of Education by then-School Superintendent Terri Forsten. An attorney with the NH DOE, Diana Fenton, and Richard Farrell, a retired state trooper, began looking into the matter, which led to investigations by the Concord police and, later, the Newton MA Police Department after the victim, Fabiana McLeod, reported being raped and assaulted at a summer program at the Fessenden School.

In July 2023, Leung was sentenced to six to seven years in prison as part of a plea deal on aggravated rape of a child with a 10-year age difference; two counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14; and two counts of aggravated indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older. When released from prison, Leung will be on probation for three years and will have to register as a sex offender.

During the plea hearing, Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Brant alluded to possible crimes in Concord as part of the timeline of the assaults against McLeod. He said advances by the Rundlett Middle School teacher began when girl was 13 and involved kissing and forced fondling, Brant said. This led Leung to invite her to the English Language Learner summer camp at the Fessenden.

During the plea deal and admission of guilt, Ghazi Al-Marayati, Leung’s attorney, requested any talk of allegations against his client in New Hampshire be removed as part of the plea and context of the admission. Brant and the judge agreed after some discussion.

After he was sent to jail in July 2023, there were rumors in Concord he could face charges in New Hampshire. He was never charged in 2019 because police did not have evidence of any felony charges at the time, only misdemeanors, according to investigators. Patch learned later some police believed more than two girls were involved with Leung, but it was never proven.

After sentencing, Deputy Police Chief John Thomas said investigators would revisit charges against Leung.

Civil case documents also accused Leung of being involved in sexual activity with McLeod as far back as February 2015.

McLeod and another student received about $1.55 million in settlements from the Concord School District’s insurance company, Primex.

The new charges seem to accuse Leung of being involved with a misdemeanor sexual assault while criminally restraining a victim in October 2014, five months before any known assault or inappropriate behavior accusations against him in the public sphere.

Leung is scheduled for a bail hearing and arraignment on Oct. 7.

In a statement, Kathleen Murphy, the superintendent of schools for SAU 8 the Concord School District, commended the work of investigators and law enforcement.

“The district is grateful for the work of the CPD and the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office for their continued investigation and effort to seek justice for Primo Leung’s egregious actions,” she said. “The district continues to be concerned regarding the student involved in this matter. As a district, we have enacted policies, procedures, and practices to ensure something like this will not happen again.”

Murphy said there have been no financial settlements with any students beyond the three who have already received payments from Primex.

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