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NEW HAMPSHIRE: Further sexual misconduct substantiated at St. Paul's School

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Further sexual misconduct substantiated at St. Paul's School

By John Chilton
https://www.episcopalcafe.com/
Aug. 27, 2018

St. Paul's School, New Hampshire has issue a further report on sexual misconduct (PDF) at the Episcopal school reports NHPR:

A new report details allegations of sexual misconduct by ten former members of St. Paul's School faculty, including David Pook, a former teacher who pled guilty to witness tampering in a case related to his alleged relationship with a student.

Former students told investigators of a teacher who went skinny dipping with students, and one who took them for drives in his Rolls Royce. They describe vivid, disturbing memories and say, looking back, it is clear to them they were being groomed.

The new accounts substantiate some of the allegations detailed in earlier reports. Two former faculty members are named for the first time.

The new report also includes more detail about David Pook's time as a teacher at St. Paul's School, including six victim accounts. The former students describe him entering girls' rooms while they were changing clothes and other behaviors they found "creepy."

One sample from the 42 page report:

Student 120 said she came to SPS as a fourteen year-old third form student "solely for ballet." She said, "I interviewed with Rein before I got in ... and once there, he became the main figure in my life at the School." She told us that she began "butting heads" with Mr. Rein, however, because he was "wrong ... in the sense that he would verbally intimidate us ... and say sexually intimidating things to us." She recalled Mr. Rein saying "a lot of really mean things" to her, and added, "[he] humiliated me in front of others." According to her, he said "sexually inappropriate things" about her body, and in particular about her breasts. She told us that because "a lot of this was in front of others" that she often spoke up against his comments, which led him to remove her from "key parts" in performances.

Student 120 told us that she spoke with an attorney during her sixth form year as a part of the internal investigation commenced by Dr. Hennessy, and while she could not remember the attorney's name, she did recall that "before any of us spoke to the lawyer ... Rein threatened us." She said, "he said that it was his department and he could decide how to run it ... and he told us not to speak to the lawyer," and added, "a lot of girls didn't talk to the lawyer, because he threatened us and they feared him." According to Student 120, SPS eventually "forced" Mr. Rein to retire. When she was contacted by the Concord Police Department three years ago, she told us she was asked if Mr. Rein had ever "sexually assaulted or molested" her. She told the Concord Police that he had not, but added, "he did slap me on the ass though ... and talk about my breasts a lot." Student 120 told us that she did not continue her ballet career after graduating from SPS, she said, "sadly it had a tumultuous ending when all of this stuff happened with Rein."

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