A former Choate Rosemary Hall student and staff member is speaking out about the explosive report involving the elite prep school.
An investigation found a dozen former faculty members had allegedly sexually abused students over decades.
“I was very surprised at the accusations,” “Bill” a former Choate student and staff member who did not want to be publically identified and wanted to be referred to as “Bill,” said.
The 50 page report, ordered by Choate and produced by a former prosecutor, laid out alleged sexual misconduct over decades at the Wallingford-based school.
“I certainly feel very badly for the students, past students, who have had to put up with this. This is not my school,” “Bill” said.
“Bill” was a student there in the 1960’s.
And he later returned as a staff member from the 70’s to early 80’s.
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“Bill” says he knew three or four of the dozen former faculty members – all men - accused of everything from kissing students to rape.
At the time, “Bill” says he and other students never suspected anything wrong was going on.
But in hindsight he says there were actions that were questionable.
“I think it should have raised somewhere near a red flag because enough innuendo floats. Eventually you think, ‘hmm maybe we should look further into this’,” “Bill,” said.
“Bill” says Choate - like other boarding schools reeling from abuse allegations - needed to have been extra vigilant with students and adults essentially living together.
He now supports Choate’s decision to bring in outside investigators to dig into its past.
“Right now the best thing we can do is to make sure it does not happen again,” “Bill,” said.
This is not just a school issue.
Wallingford police are investigating to see if there were potential crimes that were uncovered and can still be prosecuted.
