Students Saw Concord Teacher Kiss, Hug Another Student: Docs

CONCORD, NH — On Dec. 7, 2018, three students in a vehicle stopped at the end of the eastbound Exit 2 offramp of Interstate 393 at East Side Drive reported seeing a Concord High School teacher with his arm around the shoulder of a student. Those students also reported to school officials that they saw the teacher kiss the girl on the head. The report by the students started a two-state investigation that led to rape charges against Primo "Howie" Leung, 36, of Hayward Brook Drive in Concord.

The claim by students was forwarded to school officials and an investigation was initiated. The investigation was conducted by Concord High School Vice Principal Steve Rothenberg. When it was completed, it was provided to Leung on Jan. 18. In it, Rothenberg stated that Leung confirmed that the student was in his vehicle but denied any physical contact. He noted that Leung’s defense was contradicted by the students who claimed to have witnessed the interaction. He told to Leung that the allegation, if true, went against district policy of ensuring the well-being of students and that this was "the primary consideration when making decisions and taking actions" as a teacher.

ALSO READ:

• Part 1: How A Distinguished Concord Teacher Became A Student Rape Suspect
• Part 3: Should The Concord School District Have Responded Faster To Case?

Rothenberg stated that the investigation needed to consider "the credibility of all of those interviewed" and "the totality of the relationship that has developed between you and (the student)."

Deleted Photos

Rothenberg alleged in the report that Leung deleted files that contained numerous images of him with the adult student. This behavior, the report noted, "strongly suggests an attempt at covering up aspects of your relationship."

Other adults who worked in Leung’s prep room also reported expressing feelings of “discomfort” with the nature of the teacher-student relationships that developed — including "regular hugging and private 'hushed' conversations with" the adult student he was accused of kissing and hugging in the car. Students also remarked about the “unusual closeness” of the relationship, the report noted. Rothenberg stated Leung had "self-reported" that he didn’t engage with any other student in this kind of banter that, at times, went beyond the school day, according to the report.

Issues In Leung’s Classroom

The report noted that at three other times during the school year, Sica spoke with Leung regarding student boundaries. Those of those instances happened in fall 2018, before the inappropriate action claims were made.

The boundary issues included students entering his classroom through a ground-level window and allowing his classroom to become a hangout for students that he didn’t teach. Leung was also spoken to after a staff member claimed he hugged a former student. This incident was explained away by Leung in the report: Rothenberg wrote that Leung had stated the student had gone through a previous hardship she had been experiencing.

"You described your response as empathetic and supportive," Rothenberg said. “Nevertheless, I reminded you of your (responsibility) to maintain appropriate and healthy teacher-student boundaries. You have ignored this guidance and direction."

Sica concluded that Leung "engendered a familiarity that far exceeds the typical and healthy teacher-student relationship" and added that his report "exposed areas of concern that have not been fully developed," including a full understanding of the relationship with the adult student dating back to when she was at Rundlett Middle School, the recruitment, participation, and safety of students at the Fessenden School ELL summer program in Newton, Massachusetts — a program Leung oversaw, and why and how the S.O.C.K. (Save Our Cold Kids) program had become an almost exclusively female student organization.

Leung was reminded of provisions in the district’s collective bargaining agreement with educators requiring that interactions with students, staff and parents be positive, professional and effective.

The report was given to School Superintendent Terri Forsten, with the anticipation that she would contact Leung, Rothenberg wrote. Leung was also placed on a professional improvement plan and removed from his role as an adviser to the S.O.C.K. program.

On Jan. 18, Tom Sica, the principal of Concord High School — who was also the principal of Rundlett Middle School at the time that Leung is alleged to have groped and fondled an underage student there — issued a memorandum about the investigation and Leung's professional improvement plan. Leung was required to develop his own plan and bring it to school officials by March 4.

Forsten Meets With The State Education Department

Forsten met with a credentialing administrator and investigator with the New Hampshire Department of Education on Jan. 30 about materials that were discovered and recovered during the course of the district’s investigation of Leung. Forsten was concerned that some of what the district found may have violated the state of New Hampshire’s new code of conduct provisions for teachers.

The next day, on Jan. 31, Forsten wrote to Leung about the improvement plan and his union was contacted.

A second meeting was held between Forsten, the investigator and an attorney with the bureau of governance at the education department. They went through the evidence, which revealed a second student that Leung allegedly was involved with, according to emails.

After the meeting, the education department opened an educator misconduct investigation of Leung and informed the Concord Police Department on Feb. 21. of its investigation, which led to move evidence, another victim and charges.

Included in the investigatory documents was a "very expressive and emotional communication" between Leung and another student, a girl who attended Concord High School between 2016 and 2018 and Rundlett Middle School in 2015 and who now attends school in Connecticut, according to court documents.

Leung remained as an educator at Concord High School until March 28, when he was placed on administrative leave.

Forsten did not return an email requesting to be interviewed.

Union Critical Of Investigation

While Leung was being investigated and put on a professional improvement plan, his union was challenging the school district investigation and calling the allegations with the adult student into question. The plan was critical Leung's interactions with students and how he used his class time, despite being previously named a distinguished educator at Rundlett Middle School. Leung was directed, according to the plan, to establish and maintain appropriate teacher-student boundaries, create and maintain an environment that was conducive to instruction and free from interruptions and distractions and collaborate and consult with colleagues to address the needs and behavior of students whom he had contact with.

In a Feb. 11 letter to Forsten, Jeff Pullam and Karen Slick, Concord Education Association Building Representatives at the high school, chastised the district and stated the investigation that led to the plan challenged the collective bargaining agreement with teachers and whether or not further discipline should be taken outside of the high school.

"Based on the deficiencies noted in Mr. Sica’s memorandum and the lack of a fair and balanced presentation of the facts underlying the investigation, the handing of this disciplinary matter fails to meet the standard required under our collective bargaining agreement," they noted. "At the time that Mr. Leung was presented with Mr. Sica’s memorandum, he was told that the discipline for his conduct would be handled at the high school. It is evident from your subsequent actions that you are opening the possibility of further discipline."

Pullam and Slick stated that the "underlying events" that started the investigation were "presented in an unfairly negative light." They added, "the relevant context that would enable one to view Mr. Leung’s actions in a more reasonable and balanced fashion have been omitted on virtually every 'concern' cited in Mr. Sica’s memorandum."

One of those concerns was the issue of a $200 gift that Leung made to the student. Pullam and Slick claim it was for the student’s mother and noted that Leung had made "generous contributions (both in time and money) to assist a range of students, staff members, and organizations in our community."

They claimed that the six-week investigation produced no communications between Leung and the student involving any attempts to solicit the student or suggestions to the existence of or an attempt to pursue a physical or romantic relationship. Both Leung and the student denied a relationship and the student’s mother also expressed no concern about the relationship, Pullam and Slick stated.

Pullam and Slick also challenged the notion that Leung could perform his duties while having no contact with the student.

"It is unclear what specifically that directive means or how Mr. Leung can reasonably be expected to comply with it," they wrote. "We do not know if the student has been advised not to contact or communicate with Mr. Leung. It is virtually certain that the two will pass each other in a hallway. If the student says hello, Mr. Leung is placed in an untenable situation."

Pullam and Slick closed by saying while they believe that both Rothenberg’s investigation and Sica’s memorandum "contain material that we would have sought to remove from Mr. Leung’s file, the outcome appeared to focus on providing (him) with professional development opportunities to address Mr. Sica’s concerns around professional boundaries." They called this outcome "a positive and collaborative process to move forward" for Leung to improve while adding that Forsten’s letter "created an unnecessary, adversarial tone and has placed further strain on the relationship between administration and staff."

Mike Macri, the president of the Concord Education Association, did not return an email seeking comment.

'Very Expressive, Emotional Communication'

During the course of the district investigation into Leung, a disturbing letter to an underage student was reportedly discovered.

Leung allegedly wrote to the girl in April 2015, calling her “an amazing person” with “a lot to offer” and added that she showed potential as a mentor to others, despite her depression.

"I was really affected especially yesterday because we weren’t able to get over the speed bump together earlier before it got heightened and before you got really upset," he reportedly wrote. "I own that because I was pressuring you and you didn’t want to let me down. I am sorry that you felt that way."

Leung allegedly expressed disdain for his own life and admitted to wishing he had done things differently, allowing himself "to be happier and more daring when I was younger." He reportedly admitted to being depressed as a teenager and believed he fell through the cracks.

"I know you are beautiful, fun-loving and happy person,” he reportedly wrote. "I love being around you and being in your presence. You always make me smile and always make me feel like I’m the most important person in the world."

On two different occasions in the one-and-a-half page note, Leung allegedly professed his love for the girl, and even blew her a kiss (“Muah! Have huge huge hugs waiting for you on Mon”).

The discovery of the letter, an interview with the student and the fact that Leung worked at an annual summer camp in Massachusetts since the 1990s, led Concord police to reach out to investigators in the Bay State. Prosecutors in Massachusetts used the "very expressive and emotional communication" as evidence that Leung was allegedly grooming the girl for repeated fondling and sexual encounters.

Investigation Turns To Massachusetts

Sometime in late February 2019, after Concord police opened an investigation into Leung and they began to interview witnesses, another student emerged as a potential victim in Massachusetts.

According to court documents, on March 19, 2019, police in Concord reached out to Newton, Massachusetts, police about an underage victim accusing Leung of fondling and rape.

Newton police contacted the Middlesex County Child Abuse Unit to review the allegations raised by the now-17-year-old who was reportedly repeatedly fondled in 2015 when Leung was a special education teacher at Rundlett Middle School and the girl was in eighth grade.

Since 1998, Leung worked at the Fessenden Summer School, holding the position of assistant director and director of the ELL Program, a five-week boarding camp that allows children aged 9 to 15 to discover different cultures. During its investigation, Concord police learned the girl was supervised by Leung at the summer camp as an unpaid intern.

The victim told a police detective that Leung "touched her inappropriately" at Rundlett and in his vehicle when he would drive her home. She told the detective that the behavior occurred at the Fessenden camp, too, in 2015, when she was 13, and in 2016, when she was 14.

The first summer at the camp, she shared a dormitory with another student while Leung stayed in a house on campus with other people he knew at the school, she alleged.

"(The victim) reported that Mr. Leung would come into their dorm room and get into the bed with them which made them very uncomfortable," according to court documents.

During a game called "man hunt," played in the tunnels of the school, Leung allegedly would always follow her and another girl around. She called it "creepy" and when they would run from him, "he would get very upset and very aggressive" and punched a wall. It was during one of the games that Leung allegedly assaulted her for the first time while she was hiding from him under a staircase, prosecutors stated.

During the second summer, the victim returned to the camp but this time, she was assigned her own room. The victim alleged "several incidents" where Leung touched her and would put a wooden nightstand against the door so that no one could come in her room, according to documents.

The experience left her feeling degraded and "less than other people," the detective noted, where she would often ask herself, “Why me?”

When she began her freshman year at Concord High School, she started to receive counseling and regained control of her life, she said. Leung allegedly confronted her and told her, "You can’t say anything; you’ll ruin my life" and would often give her "reminders," telling her not to say anything.

After consulting with an assistant district attorney, Newton police issued a warrant for Leung's arrest.

Two days before the warrant was issued, Leung learned of a criminal investigation against him and was put on paid administrative leave by the Concord School District. He then reportedly attempted to take his own life, was taken to Concord Hospital and involuntarily held until he was arrested the next week.

Part 3: Should the Concord School District have responded sooner?