Criminal Investigation Opened Against St. Paul’s School Due To Sex Allegations

CONCORD, NH — New Hampshire’s Attorney General has announced that the department is joining with New Hampshire State Police, Concord Police, and the Merrimack County Attorney to open a criminal investigation into St. Paul’s School, one of the nation’s most prestigious prep schools. The investigation, according to Jane Young, an association attorney general, is being initiated as the result of numerous allegations against the school including a report earlier this year that revealed several sexual assaults by teachers against students, sexual conquest rituals by male students, and the conviction of a student on statutory rape and other charges last year. Young said in a statement that the allegations will focus initially on the issue of whether the school engaged in conduct constituting endangering the welfare of a child and obstruction of government operations criminal violations.

“This office will investigate any other crimes as dictated by the evidence,” she noted.

In a statement, Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald said that protection of children “is a paramount priority for law enforcement” and that he was “confident that an institution such as St. Paul's School will be fully cooperative with this investigation as it has pledged that '[t]he safety and well-being of all students remains [its] highest priority.”

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This move by investigators comes just two months after the school released a massive report put together by Casner & Edwards that investigated sexual misconduct allegations at the school dating back to the 1960s.

The report – the second of its kind – was initiated after a former teacher – the Rev. Howard White Jr. – was arrested on misconduct charges in Rhode Island that occurred during the mid-1970s. White taught in Concord from the late 1960s until the early 1970s. He later pleaded guilty to charges in Rhode Island.

The report, which was initiated in May 2016 and led by former Mass. AG Scott Harshbarger, found 34 allegations against school teachers and staffers. A previous report, put together by Ropes & Gray in Boston, was initiated in the late 1990s looked at allegations before 1988, and appeared to have a lot of missing information. Investigators have been reportedly poring through records of allegations against the school in the past.

The current investigation into sexual misconduct was prompted by the arrest of Owen Labrie, a Vermont teenager at the time, on sexual assault charges in July 2014, after a 15-year-old freshman at the school filed a complaint that she was raped in late May after being lured to a building as part of a sex game at the school called “senior salute.” The arrest resulted in Harvard University dropping Labrie from his enrollment at the school.

The court proceedings in 2015 riveted media outlets that offered wall-to-wall coverage of the trial. Labrie was ultimately found guilty of misdemeanor sexual assault – statutory rape – but the jury also found him guilty of a felony computer sex crime – for using Facebook to lure the girl – which requires him to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to a year in prison but has been appealing the sentence.

The parents of the victim – Chessy Prout – filed a lawsuit against the school negligence and emotional distress and is requesting $75,000 in damages in U.S. District Court. Prout also has been active in helping other victims via her "I Have the Right To" Initiative and is considering writing a memoir about her ordeal.

A second sexual conquest game was revealed last month after police began investigating a sexual assault at the school and learned that eight boys who were competing to have their hames put on a crown as part of the game.

The school has stated that it does not have a culture of sexual abuse and has taken a number of measures recently to address the issue including hiring outside teams to examine student culture, brought in experts to train the faculty on adolescent relationships, consent, sexuality and culture, and reviewed and upgraded security on campus, according to press reports.

Any person with information regarding criminal conduct at the school is urged to contact Investigator Mark Myrdek at 271-1263 or e-mail Mark.Myrdek@doj.nh.gov.

Credit: Jim Cole/Associated Press